The Arrival
by Dracomancer
Summary: Upon the arrival of a man calling himself a Vizard, as he tries to recruit Ichigo to their cause, but Kein is the first to join. However her training is interrupted by the arrival of the Arrancars into town as everyone engages into battle to stop them.
1. Transfer Student

**The previous story to this is** "In Death We Share"

**Transfer Student**

With new seasons come a new beginning and with new beginnings come a new week of school. Upon waking up on the usual Monday morning, Ichigo, after getting in his school uniform, slowly opened his closet door to find Kein sleeping on her side, her back facing him.

"Hey, you awake?"

He asked softly, not wanting to wake her too abruptly. The light from his room peeked in through the darkness of the closet as Kein looked over her shoulder to see Ichigo's face. It gave her a smile, but a weak one as she slowly turned over on her other side, Kon snoozing away in her arms, nuzzled up against her lovely lumps as he would call them. Although Ichigo had let Kein stay a couple of nights to make sure she was alright from the previous ordeal with her and Urahara's memory serum, he could still tell that she needed some recuperating. He could easily see it on her face; dark circles under her eyes and her eyes were rather bloodshot as well.

"You know, if you want to stay another night…"

"…no, it's okay Ichigo. I'll…be fine. I think can head back to Orihime's," she encouraged, trying not to worry him as she felt bad enough for what happened and didn't want to over welcome her stay.

"Well you're not in a gigai and my family can't see you, so you might as well go ahead and rest on my bed. It's probably a lot more comfortable than that closet space, but how about this; if you feel better by the time I get back from school then feel free to go back to Orihime's. Deal?"

She couldn't stop looking in his eyes, nearly feeling the kindness flow from his voice. It struck a chord…a very _deep_ cord. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes again. She hadn't gotten much sleep and hadn't left his closet for the two days she was in it, not saying a word and just trying to calm her mind.

"Deal," she said lightly in an almost whisper like tone.

He held out a hand to her to help her down as her feet lightly touched the ground, Kon still in her arms. "Besides, if there's anything that can keep Kon's mouth shut, it's you. Makes this place a lot quieter and I can wake up without a stuffed animal walking around on my face like he owns it."

His statement got a small chuckle out of her.

"Well, see you la-"

"…Ichigo…"

"…hm?"

She was blushing slightly as she kept her gaze diverted away after laying Kon on his bed.

"Can…..can I embrace you?"

Ichigo flinched at her question. It was a rather odd question and one he'd never been asked before and he was finding it all the more eye opening in getting to know Kein. When he had first met her she seemed so confident and almost stubborn, loud in voice, and what he thought was a good heart, but after this recent incident he was reminded of just how frail even a powerful Shinigami could be. It almost reminded him of the fragilities in his own heart. However, he also recognized that she was respectful of other people's comfort zones, never assuming something was okay or doing something without thinking. It was another trait he got well along with her on. But her question made the moment just a tad bit awkward no doubt. There was a lot of things he wasn't used to and genuine affection from a friend was one of them.

He sighed lightly as he replied, "Kein, this is up for you to decide, but if you ever feel you need to embrace me then just do it. Don't worry about asking, okay?"

That same deep chord was struck again as she gasped. "Ichigo!" She stated his name earnestly as she embraced him in light tears after a slight hesitation to make sure she had heard him correctly.

It was definitely weird to feel this at first, but he then slowly embraced her back, wrapping his strong, but gentle arms around her as she nuzzled her head into his chest.

"I-I'm so sorry Ichigo. I just…don't know what to think or feel. I…I…"

"…don't worry about it."

She was fighting tooth and nail now with her mind as she bit her tongue and held back her tears from flowing into sobs. After a moment of feeling his warmth, she just as quickly pulled back as she sat on the edge of his bed, hunching over, and rubbing her face while wiping the tears as her wispy voice deepened to her usual more tomboyish tone. She took in a long deep breath and exhaled.

"You'll be late for school. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."

Ichigo felt a little torn at the situation. He wasn't sure what to do, but his protective stubborn nature kept him from letting her go back home just yet. He wanted to keep an eye on her just for a little longer. Feeling satisfied in knowing she would be fine in his room, he finally ventured to school.

"Good morning, Kurosaki!"

Orihime said aloud as Ichigo walked into the classroom.

"Your reckless hairstyle is as refreshing as always," Ishida added sarcastically.

"Zip it," Ichigo retorted as he approached the group, Chad standing silently as always behind Ishida. It was refreshing to the mind for Ichigo to see at least his other friends were doing fine. The least worry on the mind the better, but the moment of peaceful hellos was shattered as a familiar loud voice rang out obnoxiously in crying banter, "What? What? What the hell is this? What's with this grouping? There's Chad! Why, oh why, Ms. Inoue? And why, oh why, Ishida? I thought things were odd at the start of summer vacation, but then all four of you took extra vacation time off together! On top of that, you're all hanging out here together! What happened between the four of you? Stop messing around and tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!"

Asano was belligerent as always when greeting Ichigo in the morning.

"Nothing happened," Ichigo replied nonchalantly. Asano gasped as he continued, "Could this be…the feeling that I'm about to be dumped by my friends?"

"Yep, that's pretty much it. If you've got it, then get lost."

Kojima popped up behind the group as he asked rhetorically to Ichigo, "Doesn't he understand you're just messing with him?"

And in his usual outbreak with running away Asano cried, "You fair-weather fools!" Just when things were hoping to settle down, another similar girlish cry popped out into the atmosphere as Honsho came up behind Orihime and hugged her around the waste in a fangirl type of manner.

"Morning, Hime!" Her arms were causing Orihime's chest to be propped up more than it should have been, but before she could get another minute of hugging, she was drop kicked to the face.

"Even though that happens every time that was a magnificent retort!"

"That wasn't a retort! It's called a kick! Jeez! Even though it's autumn, you're in full bloom!"

"Morning, Tasuki."

"Morning, Ichigo. How's that report coming?"

"Report?" Tasuki sighed as she re-explained, "Yeah, the one that was assigned while you were all on vacation. I told you about it the other day, right?"

A small sweat drop formed on Ichigo's temple as he replied, "Yeah. I forgot all about it."

"You sure you're alright. It's not my fault if you don't get it in on time."

"Yeah I know." She sighed again, "Whatever. If you take too much time off, it really makes things…hey…wait a second…what's that?"

She asked as she spotted a weird badge hanging from Ichigo's belt, but he assumed she meant, "This good luck charm? Uh…well…" he began as he thought of the other day when his dad literally took the charm and sewed it to Ichigo's shirt.

"So it was my idiot father's dirty work, you see?"

She looked at him a bit puzzled, "I figured that out without you telling me."

"How'd you know?"

"It's obvious. Who else in your life would do something like that? Anyway, not that. I was asking about that skull there."

"Oh, this? This is…um…Shiniga…uh…I bought this…" he then flinched slightly as he asked "Tasuki! You…can see this?" She flinched as well, finding it a rather odd question to ask.

"What the? What do you mean?" But before the question could be answered, Ocho Sensei walked into the room, "Morning!"

"Ah, it's Sensei!"

"All right! Find your seats, you guys."

"Okay!" Tasuki answered.

"So everyone's present today, right? Ooshima and Sorimachi are absent, but that's okay, since they're just a couple of punks. I'm sure they're in good health," she started off each typical school day morning."

"So, I have some wonderful news for you. We have a new transfer student starting today!"

Ichigo couldn't help but to hold his badge in his hand and stare at it, remembering something Ukitake had told him, "This tool is much more powerful than it looks. Should anyone besides a Shinigami attempt to use this, it would be very dangerous. Therefore, it is protected from the sight of normal Humans by an automatically generated field."

_"Isn't that what he said? Or is it broken?"_ He wondered to himself, but suddenly the eyes of the skull badge began to flash and chime as Ichigo freaked, not expecting such weird timing from it. Ishida, Chad, and Orihime gave him odd looks as they knew what the sound meant; a Hollow was nearby.

"What's wrong, Ichigo?" Kojima asked a few seats behind Ichigo. Ichigo looked back at him rather tense, "Uh, well…my stomach…"

"…who makes such a ruckus over a stomach ache?" Ocho Sensei wondered out loud as she went over to the classroom door to open it and let the new student arrival in.

"All right, please come in. Huh? Where'd our transfer student go?" Ichigo would have naturally just let Kein handle the situation, but under this particular circumstance he didn't want her rest disturbed by something trivial so he quickly made his way out the classroom door way and ran down the hall.

"Hey! Hold on, Kurosaki!"

"I gotta go!"

"The toilet? Really, you…" and soon Orihime and Chad were quickly to follow as they also exited out the classroom "Hey! Chad and Inoue, too?"

"I gotta go!" They answered in unison.

"Liars! And, Inoue, girls are supposed to be able to hold it until their stomachs hurt a little!" Orihime yelled from afar, "It already does! It's going to leak out all over if I don't go!"

"All right! Go on, then!" Asano decided that he would also try to leave out the door, "Sensei, I gotta go, too!" But Sensei grabbed him by the back of his shirt, "No way, Asano."

"Huh? No fair! You just let Ichigo and the others go! No fair! No fair! No fair! No fair! No fair!"

"Enough already, Keigo."

"I'll sue!" Tasuki sighed from the ruckus as she shot her gaze out the nearby classroom window only to see a very strange sight. There was a man in strange robes with what appeared to be some type of wrapped weapon upon his back and orange hair running from the school yard.

_"Ichigo?"_ she wondered.

It didn't take long for Ichigo to take out the Hollow that was nearby since with one swing of his sword, it was cut down and destroyed. "You know, I think I probably could have dispatched this Hollow on my own. You didn't need to leave school, you know." Orihime smiled as she replied, "I just wanted to try escaping from school by lying and saying I gotta go to the bathroom!"

"I guess its okay that you're not making excuses, but I think that was a little reckless, Inoue," Chad retorted.

"Now that I think of it, Ishida didn't come, did he?"

"It can't be helped. He's lost his spirit power."

"But we've been back for two weeks already."

"Don't worry. He'll deal with it somehow. Even without his powers, he put up a good fight." They were about ready to go back to school before Orihime interrupted, "Actually, Ichigo. There was one other reason I came here."

"Hm?" "Well, I wanted to ask you…about Kein…"

"…oh." He sighed lightly as his expression changed to a hint of sadness. "Sorry, I was going to tell you after school, but she's still having it pretty rough. I'm sure she'll tell you what happened when she's ready to, but she basically went to Urahara's place to get help in retrieving the memories from her past when she was still alive."

"Her…memories?"

"Yeah…" he began as he scratched his head and shot his gaze to the side "…well apparently whatever serum he gave her had some pretty bad affects on her mind. As a result I she went into a frenzy. Had I not been there, I think things would have gotten pretty ugly."

She gasped slightly as she saw Kein as a close friend and felt the news Ichigo gave her was although relieving, also concerning. Chad sighed as well. "But the good thing is she's recovering. I told her to stay at my place if she needed some more rest and if she felt better by the time I got home from school that she could go back to your place. I know you're concerned, Orihime, but I'll say this anyway; don't worry about it."

Orihime smiled lightly as she didn't want to bother Ichigo further, "Alright. Whatever you say Ichigo. Thanks for telling me, but tell Kein that I look forward to her coming back and that I'll have her favorite meal prepared for her return," she added with a brighter smile. Ichigo's serious expression softened. He was glad to see that Kein and Orihime were getting along so well, but also knowing how Orihime's brother's death affected her, he was glad to know Kein was good company to her.

Without further interruptions, Ichigo, Orihime, and Chad returned back to school, but unknown to them, a particular presence was floating above them in the sky, drinking away from a water bottle upside down. He grinned in a jeering type of manner, watching Ichigo and the others down below.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, huh?"

The moment just as quickly passed as the group was now back at school.

"Listen up, everyone! The transfer student I mentioned this morning is here. I'll introduce him. Your name, please."

"The 'hei' in lewd, plus the 'ko' in Onono Imoko, the 'shin' in genuine worker, plus the 'ko' in spicy cod roe. I'm Hirako Shinji. Please to meet yah," he answered loud and clear in front of the class.

"Hey, Hirako, it's reversed. Reversed!" Shinji smiled politely as he replied, "Pretty good, huh? Doing things in reverse is my specialty."

Upon closer look, this man was in a school uniform with short blonde hair and was around the same height as Ichigo. "Oh, I see. Let's find you a seat."

"Sensei! Put me next to a really cute girl!" Despite the ruckus over a new student, Ichigo was lost in thought as he kept staring at his friend, thinking to himself _"Ishida, I thought you'd get your powers back right away. But, maybe it's not so simple."_

"Looks like we're neighbors, huh?" A voice interrupted his thought as the transfer student sat down next to him. "Uh-"

"…let's be friends!" He stated with a clear voice "Kurosaki," he deepened his tone. And with proper manners Ichigo replied, "Yeah, please to meet you." Shinji gave him a funny grin as Ichigo returned the expression with his usual stern gaze. It wasn't long before the school day had finally ended and Ichigo returned home.

The sky was darkening outside as he was eager to enter back into the house to make sure Kein was still there. He slowly opened the door to his room so as not to disturb her as he quietly walked in. And there on his bed, adorned upon his pillow, a head full of shiny blue toned hair and the covers pulled over a feminine shaped body. Only this time she was facing Ichigo, instead of her back as she could see her face now and could tell she was sound asleep. It was the most peaceful expression he had seen on her in the last few days. "Ichigo!" He sighed a little of relief, not noticing someone calling his name as he gently put his book bags down only to get an abrupt reaction as the bag was pushed back violently.

"Damn it Ichigo, why do you always ignore me?"

Finally looking down he saw that he had accidentally placed his bag on top of Ichigo.

"Oh, Kon."

Kon retorted back in a firey response, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN oh, Kon? You always do this to me Ichigo! You're so mean!" Ichigo sighed in irritation "Shut up already! Stop the whining! Besides, you're going to wake Kein up and the others will hear you."

"How can I remain silent under these circumstances? If you're going to continue to treat me like this, I'll have you charged with violation of stuffed-animal rights! I'll pull the fluff outta you clear down to your ass!"

He plopped himself on his side as he lowered his tone to a more quiet whine, "It's been so long. I'd love to get inside your body for a change, then I could _really_ help comfort Kein."

Ichigo cocked an eyebrow, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

He asked rhetorically as she softly sat down on the edge of the bed, his lower back ever so slightly nudged up against Kein's knee as she was in a fetal position, curled up on his bed.

"Peeping, pulling up skirts. Anyways, it's your reputation that gets sullied. It's great to cuddle with Kein, but I can't even get out to take a breather. Jeez."

"You bastard! You're joking, right? So far, you haven't done anything criminal like right?" Before more of Kon's whining could be heard, Ichigo felt something gently clasp against the bottom of his shirt.

"Hm? Oh, Kein. Sorry, didn't mean to wake you."

She replied in a soft toned voice, "It's alright. It's good to see you home," she stated as she slowly sat up in bed, wrapping her arms around her knees, resting her head upon them. She looked fine for the most part, but Ichigo could still tell by the expression on her face that she was sad.

"How was school?" She asked, not wanting the conversation to start up on how she was feeling.

"Same as usual I guess, but we got a new transfer student. Some short blonde haired guy that grins a lot. He seemed pretty keen on being friendly, saying that I and him should be friends."

She wasn't sure why, but the short description of the transfer student sounded familiar to Kein. It sounded like someone she knew a long time ago, but figured it wasn't him. How could it be? She let out a deep exhale as she yawned and stretched out her arms, popping a few joints.

"Man what a week. Thanks for letting me stay. It means a lot to me."

He smiled at her, "No problem, but if it keeps _that thing_ shut up…" pointing at Kon "…then I'd say you're welcome here any time."

She chuckled slightly and smiled, but then she gasped as she suddenly sensed a strange reiatsu. Ichigo quickly caught the change of expression on her face.

"What's wrong?"

"Something's…nearby." And as if on cue, Ichigo's Shinigami representative badge began to flash its yellow eyes. Ichigo sighed just when he was hoping to have a relaxing evening.

"Here we go again."

Kein quickly got up from the bed as he looked up at her.

"Wait, you're going?" Her expression was focused and serious as she seemed to be staring off into space.

"Yeah, but not after that Hollow. It's something else…something _odd_."

Ichigo stood up as he grabbed his badge and popped out his Shinigami spirit self. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Besides I think I could use a breath of fresh air. Sitting around and moping never got me anywhere and stretching my legs sounds like a satisfying idea."

Ichigo smiled lightly, relieved to hear that maybe she was going back to her old self again and in quick timing, but he also had remembered her saying _"...when I fight it gives me a sense of peace..."_ He still wasn't sure what she meant by the statement, but he wasn't bound to stand in her way.

She stepped out on the window seal as she looked back at Ichigo and warned, "If I don't return, don't be alarmed."

He gasped slightly, "W-What?"

She smiled, "It's just a feeling, but I think I'm going to be pretty occupied for a while so promise me you won't come looking?"

Ichigo just kind of looked at her blankly, rather confused. What was she up to now? "Heh, man you're stubborn. So let me put it this way; I wouldn't put myself in a situation I couldn't get out of. I would _never_ do that to you or Orihime. So if I don't come back for a while, then don't come looking."

He sighed, "Alright, I promise."

"Heh, good."

"Oh and by the way, Kein."

"Hm?"

"Orihime wanted me to tell you that she misses you and has your favorite meal ready for you when you come back."

A twinkle appeared in Kein's eyes from the moon lit night as she felt touched by Orihime's notion. She smiled and said with a goodbye, "Thanks."

"! ! Are your forgetting something?"

Kon yelled from the floor, with whiny tears in his eyes. "Hee, hee. Right. Sorry Kon, but that cuddling will have to wait for another night. Take care of Ichigo for me okay?"

"Keeeeeeeeeeiiiiinnnnnnn," he cried and out the window she went. Without further interruption Ichigo picked up Kon and popped his soul out from the stuff animal and then popped it into his lifeless body. "Here, take care until I get back. Don't go wild, okay? Got it?" He stated as she too jumped out the window in Shinigami fashion. Kon smirked as he replied to Ichigo from the window "Understood. Take your time! Man, it's been a while! All right! Let's go out and have some fun!"

Ichigo had quickly caught up to the Hollow that was causing his badge to flash. "There it is."

Leaping into the air he came down with a slashing motion as the Hollow was easily cut in two and dispersed. "Heh, that was quick. Guess that's it. Hope Kein will be alright."

"Hey! W-W-Who the hell are you?" A voice yelled at him from another rooftop. "All dressed up like a Shinigami and shit! Very suspicious!" Nonchalantly Ichigo replied, "Who are you?"

"My name is Kurumadani Zennosuke! I'm an elite Shinigami tasked with watching this area in Kuchiki Rukia's stead who was pulled out on account of some crime or something. Well? Surprised?" Ichigo just gazed at him blankly, "I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, Shinigami representative. See? Here's my badge."

"What? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. What the hell is that? I've never seen or heard of a Shinigami representative badge!"

Ichigo sighed heavily in irritation, "What the hell? This thing is useless."

"All right! So, if you're gonna apologize now would be a good time."

As the two were distracted, the same man from earlier in the day that was watching over him slowly floated down from the sky as he flipped his body right side up, withdrawing his sword and coming up behind Ichigo. The man let out an exhaled soft chuckle as Ichigo quickly turned around and swung out his sword to meet with the man's blade. The impact from the attack completely blew the other Shinigami away as a wave of reiatsu shot out.

"Hirako? You have a Zanpakutou? Bastard! What the hell are you?"

Shinji put his index finger up to his lips telling Ichigo to shush. "Don't make so much noise, Kurosaki Ichigo. Someone with so much reiatsu shouldn't create a commotion so easily. It will echo throughout the world and alert others."

"Alert others? Like who?"

"Alert who, you say? Do ya really need me to spell it out for yah, dumbass?"

Their blades grinded and separated abruptly as the wave of reiatsu dispersed. "Hm? He's gone," Shinji stated as he looked back over his shoulder.

"Hirako! What the hell are you, you bastard?"

Putting up his index finger again in a scolding type of manner he looked back at Ichigo and replied, "See? I told ya! This is because you just carelessly let your reiatsu spill out."

Obviously not listening Ichigo retorted, "I asked you who the hell you are!"

Swinging his sword back over and onto his shoulders, "Jeez, what a pain in the ass. Do you really want to know so badly what I am? Okay then."

Placing his left hand above his head, a strange light began to appear as what seemed like pieces of a masking were forming together as it only took a mere few seconds for the entire mask to form.

"See? Check it out," pulling it down over half his face "what's this?" Ichigo gasped, "A Hollow mask?"

"Right. A Zanpakutou and a Hollow mask. You understand, don't you? I am a Shinigami that has stepped into Hollow territory. Didn't I say, lets be friends? I am a Vizard. I am your _kin_."

Flashes of Ichigo's inner Hollow sped through his mind as well as when he fought Kein the first time and her Hollow mask popped out partially.

"Come to our side, Ichigo. You do not belong on this side."


	2. Recruit

**Recruit**

A rolling thunder sound shot off in the distance as Shinji and Ichigo both looked in the general direction.

_"W-What the? This reiatsu...but this other enormous reiatsu is…a Hollow?"_ Ichigo thought to himself.

_"Whoa, whoa, whoa, he just now noticed? Is this guy really okay? The Shinigami reiatsu that just appeared. I don't recognize it. Who can it be?"_ Unknown to them, the Grand Fisher Hollow that had originally killed Ichigo's mother had come back to life as a stronger lower ranking Arrancar and was chasing Kon around. However, Isshin had finally come out to protect Kon, revealing his true form as a former Shinigami and was defeating the Hollow. It wasn't long before Urahara had joined him as they began to discuss about the Arrancar, Aizen's Hougyoku with its length of time to create, and Isshin's powers coming back, but Ichigo wasn't bound to just stick around while this Hollow power was romping around so he immediately left to investigate.

"Hey, damn it! Where yah goin, Ichigo? I'm not finished talkin yet." Ichigo yelled from afar, "Not interested!"

"I said I'm not finished yet!"

"Whatever it is, I don't want to hear it! I don't care what kind of organization your so-called Vizards are, I have no desire to become friends with you all!"

A tension filled silence fell between the two as Ichigo placed a defiant firm hand up against his chest, "I'm a Shinigami! I am not your friend!" With those final words he left. Shinji sighed a little irritated, "This ain't gonna be easy." Taking out his cell phone he called another one of his Vizards to inform them of the situation.

"Hey, it's Hirako. Is this Mr. Sarugaki's cell phone?...Sorry. Wrong number." Yelling and screeching could he heard on the other end of the phone, "I couldn't help it. Ya don't have to shout in my ear! It's just a matter of time. Let's be patient." Seeing as there was nothing else he could do for the night he was going to call it in and hang up the towel for now as he put his cell phone away.

"Shinji?" A voice called out to him a small distance behind as he gasped slightly, cocked an eyebrow, and turned to look over his shoulder, but the sight that laid upon his eyes was rather unexpected. He never thought that he would ever see this rather familiar face as he turned to face the woman in front of him and gave her a long deserved grin.

"Kein Marasuna. Well…it has been quite a while…hasn't it?"

Everything she had felt for the last few days had quickly faded away at the sight of Shinji. She could remember all too well what had happened to Shinji and the other Shinigamis that had Hollowfied and were going to be put to death, but they disappeared and were never seen again. Shinji and Kein were never close, but they always enjoyed each other's company when he was a Captain way back when.

"You really are alive…" she began as she floated closer to him seeing that same familiar face and that same Zanpakutou "…man what happened to your hair?" He chuckled as he placed his sword up and on his shoulders replying, "It got it in the way. I decided to cut it. You know, start with a clean slate? Well, if you can call it _clean_."

"So…if you're alive then…what about the others? Are they okay too?"

"Alive and kicking."

She sighed happily, "Thank god." But the expression on her face turned more serious as she asked, "Let me guess, Urahara helped?" He sighed a little, "Yes and no. That thing he created called the Hougyoku he was originally using to try to undo our Hollowfications, but it did exactly the reverse and solidified the affects. Since you were watching nearby I'm assuming you heard the rest?" She chuckled, "Heh, so you _could_ sense me. Yeah I heard it all." He narrowed his gaze at her, "_And?_"

She smirked, "And…I think you're wasting your time with the _wrong person_."

He cocked an eyebrow at her as the grin on her face widened, revealing a few pearly whites as he lifted up a finger and pointed at her with intrigue, "What are you insinuating? Are you telling me that you…"

"…yep. Happened to me too…but…not in the same way it did to you."

A near wild look could be seen in his eyes as he asked for further explanation, "Really? Oh, do tell."

"Heh, well, before I get on that, as you already witnessed, Ichigo is one _defiant_ guy. There's no way you're going to convince him any time soon, but I know for a fact that he _needs_ you guy's help. So if you want him on your side, then you let me handle that. I've never seen his Hollow mask, but I know he's told me he has one. And he doesn't seem like a guy that would submit to that sort of thing either so don't worry. I'll get him to join."

He shrugged, "Well, the less work for me the better. I don't think Hiyori will be too happy with me letting someone else handle it."

Kein sighed, "Oh god, Hiyori. She's such a little shit, but I like her. She's got the right attitude and spunk that I think could help kick Ichigo into gear. But I guess I have to get a gigai after all if I'm going to see Ichigo at school tomorrow. I'd wait to confront him tonight, but I don't want to bother him about it since he obviously doesn't want to listen to it right now so I'll just spend the night at Urahara's so he can set me up right so I tell you what; I'll meet you here exactly 3 p.m. tomorrow. I have a few things to take care of other than Ichigo so just wait for me here and I'll come back when I'm done."

"You going to tell me your story first?" He smiled as she looked over her shoulder since she was about to leave, "Heh, heh, I'll tell you what happened to me after I meet up with you and the others. It'll make it easier so I don't have to repeat myself twice…_and_…it gives you something to look forward to." She then faced her back to him as she added softly, "I'm glad you and the others are okay…Shinji."

_…Next Morning…_

Ichigo was sitting idly at his school desk thinking to himself, _"Who the hell was that other reiatsu?"_ thinking about last night when he had reached the spot he felt the power from, but found no one there. He thought it had at first been Kein's reiatsu, but he knew it wasn't as it felt completely different. _"Damn it. This is all because that bastard Hirako suddenly…"_ Ichigo wasn't the only one that was tense as Ishida too recollected on the happenings of last night when he too was attacked by a Hollow, but was saved by his father who revealed himself to be a Quincy. His father was willing to help Ishida get his powers back, but only with an ultimatum that if he helped Ishida, then Ishida would have to swear to never help or dabble in Shinigami affairs ever again.

"Good morning, Kurosaki!" Orihime's voice rang out, breaking the tension in the air.

"Cheerful as always, Orihime," another voice called out from behind her as Ishida, Chad, and Ichigo immediately turned their attention to the doorway at the automatic recognition of the voice. There was a woman standing in the doorway that had her blue hair up in a ponytail, was wearing a white tank top under a black jacket, black pants with black boots, a tag that said 'visitor' on it, and around her neck was a necklace with a golden charm of the number 6. Orihime immediately turned around with tears almost in her eyes as she embraced Kein rather fervently, "Kein!"

Kein let out a gasped moan as Orihime squished her with her boobs, hugging quite tightly.

"Nnn…n-n-nice…to see you nnntoo…Orihime…pleaseletmego…"

"Oh, sorry!" As she let go of her embrace, able to take in a deep breath she smiled down at Orihime, being a bit taller than her "Wow you look so different with your hair up. I've never seen you in other outfits before. Are the clothes new?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

"And oh, what a pretty necklace. Where'd you get that?"

"I saw it at a store on the way to the school. They were selling all these necklaces with number charms. 3 is my favorite number, but I saw the 6 and liked it even more. I don't know I just kinda liked it for some reason. So I decided to buy it, but look I don't have much time. I actually came here to talk to Ichigo about something important real quick. Sorry I can't stay and chat longer with you, but I wanted to let you know that I'll be gone for a week or so."

Ichigo and the others were left a bit speechless, wondering why she was using a gigai since she never had used one before and wondered why she was at the school.

"A week? But…are you in trouble or something? Is everything okay?" She asked in her usual wispy voice as Kein replied in her more tomboyish deeper tone, "A lot better than you could imagine. I'm just visiting some…_old friends_. I promise I'll explain everything to you some other time, okay?" Orihime sighed a little, "Alright. As long as you promise…"

"…I do. Ichigo," she called out to him, motioning him to get up and follow "…come on, I need to talk to you about something. It can't wait for a later time, sorry." Although Ichigo was relieved to see she was alright, he was a bit questionable about what she wanted to talk to him about as he simply got up from his seat to meet her in a desolated part of the school outside.

"So, finally decided to use a gigai?"

"Well if I didn't then students would think you'd be talking to thin air. You know I wouldn't want to embarrass you like that."

"Heh, thanks. I appreciate it more than you know…but…what is it that you wanted to tell me?"

"I know about last night…with the meeting between you and Shinji." Ichigo gasped, not expecting the conversation to be about _that_.

"Wait…you know that guy?" Kein scratched her head as she leaned up against a beam.

"Let's just say he's not what he appears as you already know, but he's not your enemy Ichigo." Ichigo frowned, gritting his teeth a little as he let out an irritated exhale through his nose.

"If you came here to convince me to-"

"…I didn't come here to convince you to do _anything_," she interrupted "at least not yet, but I felt you and the others had a right to know where I'm going to be for the next week or so. I'm going to go with Shinji."

Ichigo gasped, "But why?"

"Why…you ask?" She laughed a little as she continued, "You've got to be kidding me…or maybe you just…don't understand it completely. I'm going with them because I want to learn control."

"Control?"

"You have a Hollow mask right? You told me about it before, but didn't go into much detail and you already know about mine. Well…I want to learn to control the mask. I want to learn to bring it out at will and advance my power to a new level. That's what Shinji and the other Vizards are going to teach me. In turn I think it will also help me control my Hollow powers."

The tension in Ichigo's face could easily be seen as he wanted to trust her decision, but at the same time despised it. "I know these Vizards Ichigo. They used to be Shinigamis in Soul Society." Ichigo gasped.

"W-What?"

Kein sighed a little as she further explained, "It was a long time ago, but long story short, they ended up like me. They ended up with a Hollowfication and because of it they were going to be put to death like I was, but they disappeared…" she explained as she told Ichigo about the Hougyoku's part in making them a Vizard.

"I know you don't want to see them right now, but Ichigo you gotta trust me when I say that you _need_ to see them. If you want to control that mask of yours and keep it from popping out when you least expect it, then you need to see these guys, but not now. I'm going to be busy with them first I'm sure so give it some time to at least consider it, if not for their sake or mine, then for your own. Okay?"

Ichigo sighed, a little irritated, but also sympathetic to the Vizards after what Kein had told him, but he was still very hesitant to dabble into the matters of Hollowfication. He was going to express to Kein before, about his deep fear of his Inner Hollow, but he figured at the time of first knowing her that she knew as little as he did about the whole thing. It scared him more than anything especially after watching Kein go in a frenzy with her Hollow mask just merely a few days ago, but he didn't want to waste more of her time with questions he would eventually get answered later.

"Well, as much as I don't like it, I'm not going to stand here and persuade you to stay, but thanks for telling me at least." She smiled at him, "You're welcome. Well it's nearly 3pm, I need to go." She then gently embraced him as he gasped slightly. "I'll be back before you know it." And then she left.

_…Vizard HQ…_

"Heh, so this is where you guys meet?"

She asked as Shinji lead her inside as the warehouse door closed behind them. The place seemed almost on the outskirts of town in an abandoned warehouse of some kind. It was torn and broken down on the inside, but there was a lot of lighting that shined in through a window at the ceiling top upon three different levels that the Vizards sat on. "It's not that comfy, but it works." Upon the door closing, Kein and Shinji walked into the light as the others looked down upon her.

"Love…Mashiro…Kensei…Hachigen…Lisa…and Hiyori. Man I suck at names, but I could never forget you guys. This is weird but it's great at the same time. It's especially a pleasure to see you again, Hachigen. If it weren't for your healing methods it would have taken me so many days to heal from some of the missions I was sent on."

Hachigen smiled as he replied, "It's quite a pleasure to see you again too, Miss Marasuna."

"Heh, and you too Mashiro. I've lost count of how many times we sparred together." She laughed in an almost innocent childish chuckle as she replied, "Remember that time I pushed you into the water and you almost drowned?"

Tension could be seen on Kein's temple as she suddenly remembered that moment, "Yeah, how could I forget? Nearly got tangled to death with the vines underneath those rocks. You thought it was so damn funny."

"Hee, hee, but you were flopping around like a fish. It was so cute." Kein grunted as she cocked an eyebrow. She had forgotten how childish Mashiro could be most of the time. "Well if you weren't so damn stupid you could have easily just blasted those rocks with your Kidou," Hiyori sarcastically added.

"Heh, nice to see you still have that stick-up-your-ass attitude, Hiyori."

"Oh shut up you damn bitch!"

"Why don't you make me you little shit!" Clearing his throat Shinji interrupted, "Well you all know why I've brought her here and now, Kein, if you could tell us about that _thing_ inside you." He smiled jeeringly.

"That _thing_ is not my original Inner Hollow."

She began to tell her story…"Long after you guys disappeared, strange dimensional rifts started to open up in Soul Society as an army of Hollows as well as a few Arrancars ran amuck. They found out the dimensional rifts were being caused by some type of source in Hueco Mundo and I was sent in to investigate while they stayed behind to protect the city and surrounding districts. Upon entering into Hueco Mundo, I found the source of the rifts being caused by an Espada by the name of Ernesto Gutierrez. Unfortunately, this Espada had very distinct and similar abilities to my own. I tried to use my power to absorb part of his soul, but I had never done that technique on an Espada before and it in turn backfired. The minute I started to read his soul, I found out his powers were of 'Soul Possession' through a technique of permanent bonding with any target he chooses, but by the time I had learned that it was too late. He used his technique against me and tried to merge bodies with me. So for who knows how long, I ended up fighting him in my inner mind world. It was a horrible battle, but with the help of Bankaguna, I was able to ultimately absorb him all together. I guess he ended up being my Inner Hollow. I'm not really sure how that is even possible, but because of him, all my Kidou powers are rendered useless and I can instead use Hollow powers. It is later Soul Society found out about my secret and well…you guys can imagine the rest without going into longer explanations."

A moment of silence fell amongst the air before Shinji responded, "Hmmm…how…intriguing. An Espada for your Inner Hollow? I'm surprised you haven't split in two from something like that, but I guess anything is possible after you die the first time. However, what is it that you really want to achieve Kein? Or more specifically, where do your _loyalties_ lie?" Kein thought for a moment as she knew exactly what Shinji was asking her.

"I know you guys aren't fond of the Shinigami…nor of the Humans. I'm not a fan of either one myself to be quite honest. However, my loyalties lie with my friends so that includes; Ichigo, Chad, Ishida, Orihime, Rukia, Renji, Captain Ukitake, Urahara, Yoruichi, and a few others, but that's about it. I will turn my back on how Soul Society is run, but I _won't_ turn my back on my friends. As long as they're alive, I will live my life protecting them."

Some of the Vizards gave her a stern look, but it was a lot more than what they probably would have gotten from Ichigo. "Sounds fair enough, as long as that group of friends includes _us_."

"Well naturally."

"Good."

"Heh, I'm glad you understand Shinji because I think you above all else know I would join as a Vizard without a doubt in my mind. I want to understand my Hollow powers, but most of all, I want to _control_ them."

Shinji, Hachigen, and Mashiro smiled at her commitment, but Hiyori wasn't in the least bit amused.

"And what makes you think we'll let you join?"

"Heh, somehow I knew you'd say that."

"I wouldn't look so smug if I were you. You come waltzing here like we're your buddies and you just think we'll accept you with open arms? Don't make me laugh!"

She quickly jumped down from the second level as she was face to face with Kein now. She might have been a lot shorter than the other Vizards, but she wasn't one that could be intimidated. "The _only_ thing that's going to determine us letting you join is your _power_."

Kein just merely chuckled, amused with Hiyori's disposition, "You got me wrong, like usual."

"Kh!"

"Don't give me that bullshit expression so let me explain something to you. I didn't come here expecting to be accepted with _open arms_ simply based on the fact that I knew you guys beforehand. I came here _regardless_of how you guys felt about me. I'm _going_ to control these Hollow powers correctly and I'm not gonna leave until you tell me how."

Hiyori looked like she was ready to punch her in the face as she retorted, "Heh, you're more stubborn than you were before and such damn defiance it makes me want to puke. That's what I always hated about you…" she continued as Kein cocked an eyebrow and smirked knowing this was Hiyori's usual attitude towards her "…but like always, you refuse to give up and back down even if everyone is against you. And no matter what those bastard Shinigami said to you, you stuck by us to the end. And that's what I always liked about you."

She then smirked as the two exchanged grins and inner thoughts although Kein was a little bit surprised to hear those words from Hiyori's mouth. It was the first time she had complimented Kein.

"Hachi, add another five layers to the barrier."

"Yes, as you wish." As Hachi added to the barrier Kein felt a tension in her chest. She had a feeling she knew what was going to happen next.

"So…if you think you're so _worthy_ of joining us then bring out that Inner Hollow of yours."

"You're going to find that's a big mistake."

"What's the matter Kein, you scared? Because if you don't bring it out then I'll force it out of you."

"You don't need my Inner Hollow to test my powers. I can show you my Ban-"

"…I don't give a damn about that Bankai of yours. It's your Hollow I want, got it? Now bring that bastard out here."

Kein clenched her teeth. She wasn't quite sure how to bring out her Hollow to begin with, but she figured she could mentally goad him out since she knew it would give Ernesto a chance to breath. How could Ernesto deny such a chance?

"I don't know how exactly it's done, but I'll do my best to get him out here, but you might want to Hollowfy, because if you don't, you'll end up dead."

All the Vizards felt tense at her words since Hiyori was one of their own and anything that felt like a threat against her was also a threat against them as well. "Kh, cheeky bitch. You better be ready then," she warned as she manifested her Hollow mask, a pink aura surrounding her body "because if you don't, then I'll just go ahead and kill you on the spot and end this quickly." And without hesitation Hiyori came at her with her sword and Hollow mask with a violent impact as Kein was quick to flash forth her Zanpakutou with her will and block the attack at the last second. This was the first time Kein had fought against a Vizard as the sheer horrifying power enveloped her from Hiyori's reiatsu.

It was tamed, but frightening in feeling as Hiyori's blade grinded against hers as she was then easily pushed back with such a force that she flew into the wall behind her, creating a rather large human sized dent in it. She didn't waste time to speak mentally in her mind, _"Well Ernesto, this is your chance. You want to come out so badly and I don't blame you. So now, you have my full permission to take over, in fact I would love it if you did. Show this kid what you can do and make her regret ever questioning your power. Now come out, ERNESTO GUTIERREZ!"_

Kein letting her guard down to concentrate on speaking to Ernesto mentally, Hiyori had sent Kein flying to the ground with a strong forceful kick as the ex-Shinigami impacted the ground so hard it shook the entire place.

"What's the matter, Kein? At this rate you'll end up dead."

Hiyori warned in a Hollowfied sarcastic sounding attitude. Smoke and debris was floating around from the impact as a small silence hit the air. However, the silence was suddenly broken by a chilling male deformed cackle as everyone gasped, and from the smoke flew out Kein with a partial Hollowfied mask covering over her eye, but this was no longer Kein. Ernesto had emerged without a moment's hesitation for the opportunity. The look in his eyes were chilling to the bone as Hiyori could feel the raw power from Kein, the spiritual pressure alone creating its own slightly, but daunting atmosphere within the barrier setting fear into Hiyori's heart as it exploded forth with a murderous violence.

With lightning speed he had flashed forth from the smoke, but instead of targeting Hiyori, he decided to take on the entire group that was standing idly by, watching. He of course immediately first hit the barrier that Hachigen had set up, but with a simple downward slash using his finger nails, Ernesto had ripped open through the barrier with ease as he exited out, but the moment didn't last long as the group quickly overcame Ernesto with their blades to Kein's head, ready to pop it off if need be.

Using the end of his sword, Shinji merely caused the unfinished mask to crack open and pop off Kein's face.

"And that's that. Well now, you seem to understand that inner thing of yours better than I thought. It might not have been a full blown mask, but you managed to goad him out anyway. That's a lot of raw untamed power and I understand now your persistence to get it contained, but I must say…slicing through Hachi's barrier like it was butter…it makes me all the more intrigued with what you have learned since the last time we met. You say you can't use your Kidou anymore, but these other powers your Hollow can use seems to make up for it."

Her eyes finally had gone back to normal as she was let up from the ground. She was panting slightly from the ordeal and was bleeding from the head where Hiyori had impacted her foot downward to knock her into the ground.

"You passed!"


	3. Anusaram

**Anusaram**

After wiping the blood off her face and letting Hachi heal her using similar techniques as Orihime's, she was then ready to receive the first part of training.

"So Shinji, what do we do first?" He merely sighed and stated nonchalantly,

"Absolutely nothing." She gasped, rather confused by his statement.

"What do you mean _nothing_?"

He locked gaze with her as he replied, "You aren't a normal case for us. After you told your little story I realized that we can't move forward until you awaken your _true_ Inner Hollow."

"My true Inner Hollow?"

"You said so yourself when you first got here that Ernesto is not your original Inner Hollow. Were you saying that because you understood the situation, or did you just _assume_ that if Ichigo and the rest of us have an Inner Hollow, that you also might have one as well that has yet to be awakened and is merely overclouded by Ernesto's presence?"

Kein was a bit speechless as she wasn't sure what to say let alone if she truly understood what Shinji was getting at.

"Either way it's an excellent deduction, but it creates a rather daunting issue. You want to control your Hollow powers and that Hollow mask however, is those powers and that mask of your original Inner Hollow or is it of Ernesto's?"

Kein gasped. She knew Arrancars already have their mask out, but it doesn't cover their face completely. And at first her mask would only appear partially back in Soul Society and like it did today, but just a mere few days ago the mask had appeared completely. Although it was a Hollow mask, it didn't feel like it belonged to her at all and it made the emotional frenzy even worse. It was like something else had erupted inside her that merely mixed with her emotional outburst at the wrong time.

"Until we have these questions answered, there is no way for us to determine if your Hollow powers are originating naturally or if they are simply borrowed from Ernesto. You need to find out what's going on inside of that soul of yours and awaken your true Inner Hollow otherwise there is no way for you to move on beyond this point."

Placing a hand up to Kein's face, Shinji called forth a strange power that began to knock her out completely. "Good luck my friend. You're going to need it." Within seconds she fell unconscious as he and the Vizards brought her through a secret passage on the floor of the building that led down into a personal underground training facility that basically mimicked the one Urahara had. Kein was gently laid upon the ground as the Vizards surrounded her.

"Hachi, place a barrier here as well."

"Huh?"

"Don't 'huh' me. It ain't cute when an old fart like you whines like that! Also, place a five-degree barrier around Kein."

"Yes." Slamming his hands together Hachigen began to summon forth powerful incantations, "Wall of iron sand, tower formed from hate, forge molten iron and neatly finish in silence. Way of Binding Number 75: Quintet of Iron Pillars!"

Within moments after orbs of light floated from Hachigen's hands, they went high into the sky and then transformed into iron pillars of strength as they landed on top of vital points of Kein's body.

_…Inner World…_

Unlike Ichigo's inner world, Kein's was of a completely different nature. Her's was like walking into a cheery graveyard. There were tombstones, bones, and several mausoleums all scattered about the entire inner void, but despite this seemingly endless dreary type of atmosphere, the sky above was of a shining sunny appearance with rays of light that would shine down in random locations that signified rays of hope that were of Kein's best qualities of justice, moral, pride, protection, defiance, and the will to never give up.

These rays of light are what kept the inner graveyard world alive and hopeful and it's also what fed the many plants and glassy plains that were intertwined with the tombstones. It was like Death and Life living together in a ying and yang harmony; this was the essence of Bankaguna. When she was conscious of where she was, she smiled, looking forward to see Bankaguna since it had been a long time since she met her inner Zanpakutou spirit.

Off in the distance she saw a figure and began to run towards it, hoping to embrace Bankaguna, but as she got closer, this figure became drastically different to what she was used to seeing. Instead of a silky long black cape, adorned with bright red chains that flowed out from the robes, she instead saw a bright white outfit that was lined with black stripes and underneath was a large white pair of hakama pants. And as her eyes followed from the feet up to the face, she abruptly stopped in her tracks as she starred at what appeared to be an Arrancar of some kind, but this was _not_ Ernesto.

What sounded like a Hollowfied cackle echoed throughout the endless graveyard as a jeering type of welcoming smile could be seen on this being's face.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you…Kein Marasuna." Kein gasped. This voice was not familiar, this figure was not familiar, and neither was the _smiling attitude_. "Wh…Wh-Who are you?" She stammered out.

"What's the matter? You don't look too excited to see me."

"I don't understand. Where's Bankaguna? And where's…Ernesto?"

This being chuckled as he replied, "Kein, I'm surprised at you. Do I really look that different?"

"W-What are you saying?"

"You really don't understand do you? Alright, then I'll explain it to you so listen carefully because I won't repeat myself twice!"

The being began to slowly approach Kein as she felt her stomach drop and began to take even steps back away from this being. Taking a better look she couldn't deny the uncanny resemblance amongst this man, and Ernesto. Like Ernesto, this being had the same purple hair color only in a brighter saturation, the same Arrancar mask that adorned his head and covered his eyes and the outfit was fairly the same, but the eyes were Hollow eyes and the skin was a two toned; the highlights and lighted areas being of a pure grayish white while the shadowed areas were of Human skin color like Ernesto's. The last feature that surprised her the most was this being's _smile_.

Ernesto _never_ smiled.

"Do you not recall half a week ago your little _incident_? Well, thanks to Urahara I was able to _awaken_. Your mental upset set this world in chaos, giving Gutierrez quite a surprise."

The being continued to approach her as Kein was unknowingly slowly being backed up against one of the mausoleum walls. Feeling a sudden hard surface against her back, she quickly turned her head to see she only had two ways to leave the area, but this being quickly flash stepped in front of her and planted his hands on the wall behind her on both sides of her head to keep her gaze focused on his. She was quickly frozen as she was staring into the eyes of a Hollow. They were so black with only the illumination of yellow pupils, like a light in pitch darkness.

"A-A-Are you saying that you're my….you're my…" her expression became more frantic "…yes, Kein. I…am you're _Inner Hollow_." Her heart was racing and her chest pounding with fear. "H-How?"

"_How_, you ask? You don't catch on that quickly do you?"

With lightning fast reflexes, her Hollow took her arm and flipped her so that her chest was planted against the wall, her face pressed in sideways as her arm was pinned against her back with one hand as her Hollow stepped in closer and kept her other hand pinned down with his own. He got in close and spoke his slithery little voice into her ear further explaining, "All those memories you were forced to see before you was enough to fuel _all_ your negative emotions, speeding up the process to fully awaken Anusaram, you're _true_ Inner Hollow."

"Anu...saram?" Kein wondered as she realized that was her last name spelled backwards.

"You see...I'm a hybrid of sorts; someone created from two beings. With Anusaram awakened, she and Gutierrez began to battle inside you. Anusaram won of course when Gutierrez was foolish enough to try his soul possession technique a second time, which in turn combined them both together and then..._I_...emerged."

It was strange information to absorb to think that the soul of one being, awakens a dark entity within another soul, they then combine together to create an entirely new dark entity. How was this even possible? For any other Shinigami, this type of event would be questioned and disbelieved, but for two beings; Kein Marasuna and Ernesto Gutierrez, this was all too real. Kein Marasuna has always been the only one known in Soul Society to have the abilities to manipulate the souls of others that is until she met her match when sent to Hueco Mundo and came across Gutierrez who on the opposite spectrum possessed similar abilities to manipulate souls. Who would have thought that combining their attacks together and merging bodies would ultimately create a hybrid inner being.

"The Gutierrez you once knew is now _gone_. I take his place, in replacement of both him and Anusaram. And I've also taken his name. So from now on you will address _me_ as Ernesto."

Being so close to her face, he began to lick her cheek ever so slightly, just to see what type of reaction he could get, revealing the Hollow hole that was on his tongue, but she didn't really seem to care as she was more worried about him attacking her weakest spot.

"I'm not really sure how, but that makes sense. However, that doesn't explain where Bankaguna is!"

Slipping his tongue back into his mouth he grinned and further stated, "Merging bodies with Gutiereez increased my power significantly making it just as easy for Bankaguna to become a part of me. For you see, I _AM_Bankaguna!"

"W-What? No, that can't be!"

"Oh, but it is. Bankaguna originally was the center of your spirit energy, but when Gutierrez entered into your body, that all changed. The more you tried to rely on your Kidou and Bankaguna's power, the easier it made it for Gutierrez's Hollow soul to change the switch of your powers over to Hollow powers. When you began to dabble in practicing your Hollow powers in Soul Society, it made Anusaram's awakening increasingly stronger by the second and over time you slowly gave birth to her. By the time you had your little outburst, it was all Anusaram needed to awaken and fuel her power into defeating Gutierrez, ultimately creating _yours truly_."

It took a minute for everything to sink in as Kein reflected in everything she had to deal with in relation to her Hollow powers from the time she fought Gutierrez until now. It all made sense now; where her inner turmoil came from, the constant rage she would feel most of the time, and the outburst she had after drinking Urahara's memory serum.

"Do you understand now?"

Whispering the word 'sense' into her ear as she finally nerved up enough will power to push him off of her as she dashed a good feet away. She wasn't going to risk being brought down as easily as she then flashed forth her sword, ready to duel. Her heart began to race from anticipation. She hadn't had a good fight in a long time and she badly wanted to test her abilities on this new being of hers as she just as badly wanted to control her Hollow powers.

"Alright then, Ernesto is what you want to be called so Ernesto it is, but I must say I'm rather pleased," she smiled seriously "fighting the Gutierrez was so damn boring. The power was there, but he refused to talk. It was like there was no passion or even pride in his fighting, like the instinct to demolish and kill was completely dead. He just merely fought me because I was an obstacle, but now here you are; my newest Inner Hollow. Those eyes…oh they're so _alive_!"

Ernesto grinned wildly at her, pleased that she was getting an enjoyment out of this. It would make the fight more vigorous.

"Let me ask you something…Ernesto…if I defeat you here and now, will that bring back Bankaguna as the center of my spirit energy?"

"Heh, a sensible question…if we're speaking in _theory_ of course, but that's only if defeating me was possible."

Without further interruption Ernesto held out his hand as a sword flashed forth. Kein gasped. It was another Zanpakutou, but it resembled her own sword identically, but in reverse coloring.

"Kh, is that…"

"…yes, it is. It is _exactly_ what you think it is."

Kein was almost in disbelief. How was it possible that he also possessed the same Zanpakutou?

"What's wrong, Kein? When you thought of having an Inner Hollow, what exactly were you expecting to see? It's true the form I have right now looks nothing like you, but that is simply due to the fact that my entity is merged and overtaken Gutierrez's. If you had seen my original form, it would have been like looking into an inverted mirror. So to help that pee-brain head of yours let me make myself clear. I am _you_ and I am Bankaguna. We share exact same powers!" Without hesitation Ernesto came at her, cackling away as his laugh echoed in the atmosphere.

After quite a few minutes of waiting, outside in the real world, a rumble shot forth from the ground underneath Kein's body as the pillars on top of her began to shake and vibrate as waves of energy were blowing wind around the barrier.

"Here she comes," Shinji stated as he and the other Vizards watched in awe as Kein's body began to shift about, clawing at the ground. Within seconds the pillars cracked at the top and toppled towards the middle as Kein's head shot upwards, revealing a half Hollowfied mask. Since Hiyori was on duty on this particular day and didn't get a chance to get a crack at her Hollow form from earlier, she stood up and commanded Hachi, "Open it up over here. I'm on guard today so I'll go first."

"Okay." As told he opened up a side panel of the barrier to gain her entry. "Don't kill her Hiyori," Shinji stated almost with a slight irritancy. "Kh, whatever." As she walked in, Hachi closed the barrier as the Hollow Kein looked at her like she was the meal of the day, flashing forth its Zanpakutou as Hiyori prepared her own.

"Come on you twit, I'm ready for you." The two began to battle just as reflected in the inner world as Ernesto and Kein had separated blades, landing a good distance from each other.

"I can't imagine I have much time on the outside world so I'm going to make this quick," she stated as she held out her sword, ready to release her power to the next level. Ernesto frowned and cocked an eyebrow. "You truly are ignorant of the situation," he stated as he mimicked the exact same move as her, grinning wildly again. Kein gasped at knowing that if he had the same powers as her, was it really possible for the same techniques to be passed on? The two faced each other fiercely for a brief moment, locking gazes and staring each other down, neither willing to give into the other until they both screamed out in unison…

"…Ban…KAI!"

Large smoke clouds appeared as Kein swiped away the clouds around her, revealing her newly formed outfit with its colorful glowing chains and reaper like robes. Ernesto did the same as he used a little push of his reiatsu to clear the area of smoke, revealing that he too had an identical outfit to Kein's. She gasped slightly as this was a surprise to her. She understood that he had the same powers as her for the most part, but she wasn't expecting him to have the exact same outfit in inverse colors, but a few features still remained the same on him. His purple hair was still purple, his eyes still Hollowfied, and his skin still the same strange two toned, however, it took her a moment to realize that one significant thing that disappeared was his mask.

Now his Hollow eyes could clearly be seen without being stricken by shadow. Neither of the two were fond of wearing the hooded part of their Bankai outfit as they both simultaneously pulled back their hood.

"Heh, well you're just one surprise after another, but I like this…I like it a lot. Show me…show me everything that you can do! Give me the fight of my life!" Kein's usual demeanor had finally shifted to her more wild fighting side as her inner passion for battle began to surface at dealing with this new inner demon.

Ernesto grinned psychotically as he cackled, "You want to see what I can do? HA, HA, HA, HA…..AAAAAAAAAAAH HA, HA, HA, HA! WELL THEN! I guess it's true after all. You understand your basic instincts to _kill_, but it won't save you!"

The two clashed blades as they smiled at each other, the metal grinding and sparking. "So tell me, Ernesto, when did you learn Bankai?"

"HA, HA, HA! Isn't it obvious? I learned at the same time you did!"

Pushing harder against her scythe, he flashed forth a devastating Cero attack as their reiatsus hit against each other, but his Cero piercing through hers and caught her by surprise as it hit her dead on. It had blasted her quite a few feet away as she skidded along the ground, knocking over multiple tombstones as they cracked and broke off from impact.

Ernesto landed upon the ground in satisfaction as she slowly rose to her feet, the front panels of her outfit ripped and tattered, and blood dripping down from her forehead from a nasty gash in her skin. There were burns and cuts on the front of her fingers from holding the staff part of her scythe in trying to deflect his Cero. Ernesto chuckled slightly as he took quick steps to approach her, the giant scythe in his hands rather intimidating as he twirled it like a baton, so quickly that it was like he was dragging along the ground a large spinning blade that could cut anything.

"Well now, seems your reflexes are faster than they appear. You saw the Cero at the last second and blasted forth your reiatsu harder to push against it, decreasing the amount of damage you received."

Panting a little, she quickly regained her composure. "I have to admit I wasn't quite expecting that, but that's what makes this fight more INTERESTING!"

Pushing off from the ground, she charged at Ernesto in mid air, swinging her scythe in a circular motion to cut him from the side as he easily swung his blade to match her own. Using the energy from his push against him, she spun sideways with her back against Ernesto as she then pulled her scythe curled into his and swung his body from behind her. With him being swung to the side she then pushed off the air with her reiatsu to come at him again, but using a flash step, he somersaulted above her as he then was able to get behind. Using his left hand to reach around and press backward upon her stomach, he drew her in as her back was against his chest and using the scythe in this right hand, he drew the blade in and pressed it against her neck, putting her in a killer hold. She was frozen still and expecting to be cut by his blade, but he merely held the blade against her neck as a tiny bit of blood drew from the sharpness of it.

He drew his head in closer and whispered his Hollow voice into her ear, "You're persistent, thinking you can defeat me here and now. You really are a fool, Kein Marasuna."

She grunted slightly, nervous to what he would do next and what she was needing to do to escape this hold without ultimately getting her head cut off.

"I haven't been able to let loose like this since I fought with that Arrancar of yours, so I'm enjoying this as much as you are, but you must understand that your soul is _mine_. I will smash your head into the ground and take your body once and for all. I will use your powers the way they _should_ be used and I will show you what it truly means to use Bankai!"

"It isn't over till it's over, _Ernesto_."

"Don't kid yourself. You're an amateur, _Kein_."

Her heart was pounding from the heat of the moment. Although she was in mid battle, she couldn't help but feel tantalized by Ernesto's dominant nature and overbearing attitude. She found those traits appealing, and it was traits she was hoping to find one day in a man if she ever found one.

"Heh, is that right?" Lifting her left hand, she faced its palm towards Ernesto's face as it began to quickly glow a bright red. "Hope your skin is as tough as mine is."

"Kh!" Ernesto quickly let go of her as a Cero shot forth from her palm. He dodged it mostly, but part of it nicked the side of his face. They were separated once again as the Cero cleared air and Kein turned to face her opponent. She grinned at the result as she saw that Ernesto's face was half burned, but he was grinning just as brightly as the skin on his face bubbled for a mere few seconds as the burn healed and disappeared almost instantly.

Kein gasped slightly, "Re…generation?"

"Hee, hee, I told you…YOUR'E AN AMATUER!"

He came at her this time with a more fearsome violent speed as he flashed before her. Using her own flash step, she quickly jumped above into the sky, but he was quick to come up from below her as she blasted another Cero. He dodged and sped up above her and came crashing down with his scythe.

She blocked it with her own as he stuck his tongue out at her, mocking her in a cackle. She merely smiled back, finding the fight and fear of losing exhilarating. They began to flash step around each other with split second weapon collisions as sparks flew from the grinding blades, but it wasn't long before Ernesto heated things up with increasing his speed. He managed to get a few slashes on Kein's body as blood spattered about into the air from her arm, leg, and side, however she got lucky and found an opening on one of his attacks as she used a third Cero to push him back. He dodged of course, but she used that moment to get some distance between the two. She was panting more heavily now as blood dripped down from her wounds, but Ernesto didn't seem to break a sweat at all as he jeered at her with a mocking grin, spinning the scythe in his hand.

"Bankaguna was a _fool_ to go easy on you. Just because you understand the underlying meaning of a relationship between a Shinigami and its Zanpakutou, doesn't mean you know how to use its power. Look at you, you're PATHETIC!"

Kein gritted her teeth slightly as his insults went in through one ear and out the other, but not without giving a little sting to her pride.

"You may have power and intellect, but you lack technique. You rely too heavily on 'Rei de Seikatsu' to defeat your opponent, but you've never truly held your own in battle. Without that technique you would be _nothing_."

"Bullshit…that's bullshit and you know it!"

"WRONG again!" His continuing retort was starting to get under her skin, but simultaneously she knew in her heart that he was right. "You never used that technique as a last resort option, you used it out of _fear_ for your opponent getting the better of you!"

Kein gasped, his words piercing through her as the truth in them began to unveil to her, her true inner thoughts, feelings and weaknesses.

"You're too afraid like some helpless child because you fear your enemy finding your weakest point and using it against you, but instead of understanding your weakness and trying to overcome it, you instead use 'Rei de Seikatsu' to cover your ass without truly gaining or learning more about your Zanpakutou! You're so blinded by your fear that you haven't even uncovered its ultimate technique. I don't know about Bankaguna, but I refuse TO PUT UP WITH THAT!"

Within seconds he had flashed before her and grabbed part of the blade of her scythe and as he touched it, its color began to fade into a pure snow white and the gems that once glowed a bright beating red had faded into a pitch black along with the staff itself. With a squeezing grip of his hand, the blade then began to crumble and disappear into the atmosphere. Kein gasped as she watched her precious Bankaguna fade away from her grasp.

"You're a failure…at _Bankai_."


	4. A Vizard is Born

**A Vizard is Born**

"Bankaguna…" she looked down at her now empty hand.

"Don't lose your focus Kein. Wishing for him back isn't going to save your life. Besides, he's not here anymore. I told you before that he is a part of me. I told you that I am Bankaguna!"

She looked up at him wondering what to do now that she didn't have a weapon, but he wasn't going to give her a chance to recover as he swung out his scythe and chanted words she had never heard uttered, "Goukyuu Jigen". Kein froze in a panic as she watched a horrifying silhouette of the Grim Reaper himself shot forth from Ernesto's blade in a blackened dark see through wraith form. At first it came at her, but within seconds had flashed into a brilliant jagged purple light as it impacted her body with a horrible strong stinging sensation like acid on skin. Its burn was deep and its attack, deadly as it felt similar to getting hit with a powerful Cero, but that wasn't its only affects. Within that moment after the attack had vanished from sight, Kein felt a strange heaviness upon her body and mind.

It felt like she was going numb from the inside out as the attack began to decrease her overall strength, healing speed, fatigue, and most of all, all the five senses of her body. Her sight blurred, her sense of touch numbed, her hearing faded to the sounds of like listening under water, and even the taste in her mouth had dulled. And no longer could she smell the sweet grass and trees that surrounded and intertwined with the tombstones.

"W-What…did you…do to m-me?"

"It amazes me how haphazard in thought you really are sometimes. Do you still not understand? Goukyuu Jigen is the ultimate technique of this Zanpakutou, the one you FAILED TO OPEN YOUR MIND TO!" With everything in her mind and body numbed down, it gave Ernesto the perfect chance to attack her directly without being met with resistance.

Within a split second she had looked up as Ernesto had planted his foot against her stomach in a spinning kick, sending her flying into a mausoleum in the distance as she crashed against its structure. The kick was so immense that it nearly fractured her ribs as it felt like the wind was knocked out of her. Feeling the weight of her body she began to slow fall forward, but before hitting the ground Ernesto had sped forward and used the end of the staff of his weapon to pierce through her abdomen and straight through the Hollow indentation just above her tail bone and into the wall behind her, pinning her against it.

"Give up," he commanded as the entire inner world was suddenly echoing with Kein's cry. The pain was so unbearable that it sent her mind into a panic as she placed her hands upon the staff that pierced her and gripped tightly. Every muscle in her body convulsed tensely as blood seeped through on her clothing and began to drip down her legs. She thrashed about, desperate to break free, but Ernesto refused to remove his weapon from her body as her cries seemed endless.

"Oohhh, how chilling. I haven't heard you scream bloody murder since the last time you were pierced through that weak point by Gutierrez. It's almost music to my ears."

Tears streamed from her eyes as she hunched over, sweat forming at her brow and saliva dripping from her mouth as she panted heavily and let out moans, grunts, and short coming agonized screams.

"You see just how weak you really are? And now you can't use that damn technique as a sorry cop-out to save you. You'll die…and I'll be set free. Free to finally roam around without being caged up like some slave being used for its power by its master. All you could ever selfishly think about was _using my power_. If you had simply asked, I might have actually let you just to see what you could do with it, to see what potential you had, but not now…not _ever_. You are not worthy of my power. You are not worthy of BANKAI!"

With a push of his hand upon the top side of the scythe's blade, he further shoved the end of the staff through her body and into the wall as it caused her to cry out further as he waited for her to fade away. Her vision began to fade and darken as she slowly started to slip into death as memories of her previous fights flashed through her mind.

Everything…everything that Ernesto had stated was true. She was _weak_ and she was _afraid_. She took the time to get to know Bankaguna, but she never took the time to understand the powers and techniques he provided with her in battle. She figured she had already understood the powers to its full potential. She fought alongside him in spirit and mind, but she did not fight alongside him with the sharing of power. And now she was facing her Inner Hollow with the same exact attitude. Having fought countless Hollows before, she had already preset in her mind that she understood Ernesto and figured she had his powers and techniques all figured out, but she was far from it. It was a pathetic arrogant mindset and it was _selfish_.

As the darkness took over her eyes, she could still barely see Ernesto's form as he cackled maniacally, feeling confident that he had won. Instead of being angry that she was losing horribly, she was instead sympathetic. How could she have been so blind? How could she have been so _naïve_? She wasn't angry at Ernesto, she was angry at herself as an inner light flickered and rekindled in her spirit. Her instinct to survive and her desire to understand Bankaguna and Ernesto united in a flaming fire that erupted inside her. She refused…to give up.

In mid cackling, Ernesto suddenly silenced himself as he felt a strange and unusual vibration emit from the blade he held in his hand.

"What?"

Looking upon Kein he noticed that the positions of her hands were different. They were gripped upon the staff of the blade as if she was ready to wield it and within seconds the color of its original state returned normal and the colors flashed forth and up the staff and onto Ernesto as he quickly let go and backed away. Kein stood silently as Ernesto stared at her in disbelief. From his hand up to his neckline it revealed part of his original outfit form and color, the chain links on his right shoulder partially disappeared. Just when he thought he had overcome her completely, he was horribly wrong as she then took her reformed scythe and yanked it out from her body, letting her feet touch the ground as she staggered a few steps, but then stood silently and proud. And as she slowly lifted up her head, Ernesto then saw her eyes as they were glowing a reddish yellow white like life had rushed into her and had her reborn.

She began to spin the scythe in her hand like a spinning circular blade in a duplicate fashion that Ernesto would do when wielding it. Stopping a few seconds later from spinning it, she gripped both her hands upon the staff as a darkened black aura surrounded her body as the atmosphere around the two began to shake and deform. With undetectable speed she rushed forward, chanting her newly taught attack, "Goukyuu Jigen" as it shot forth from her blade flawlessly and straight through Ernesto's body at point blank range. Instead of a piercing purple color, a bright yellow light flashed from his midriff and out from his back as the two floated in mid air. The pure white snow color of Ernesto's body began to rip open from a blood splatter, into a blackened ripped cloth as it floated backwards from his body, ultimately fading him slowly away.

"Damn it...I guess I was wrong. Seems like my words got through to you after all. I was hoping your stubborn and defiant nature would have taken over and clouded your mind."

His body began to disperse from the bottom as he slowly began to sink into the atmosphere.

"I guess there's no helping it, you won. I have to recognize you as the master of this world and I as the slave for now."

The two gazed into each other's eyes as Ernesto chuckled slightly, "Why Kein, is that a hint of sadness…in your eyes?"

Tears welled up as she didn't want him to leave.

"I don't need your pity because if you think I'm going anywhere you're sadly mistaken! At any moment in time either one of us could become the master or the slave. If you ever slip up, I'll rip out from your soul, crush your mind and…" he could not finish his sentence as she took her left hand and placed it gently behind Ernesto's head, pulling him in for a kiss. As strange as this move was, it was not a kiss of love or a kiss of friendship. It was a kiss of _understanding_.

He gasped suddenly as it was completely unexpected, but she didn't let it last for too long as she withdrew from the kiss and leaned in, letting his head rest on her shoulder, a few tears streaming down her cheeks.

"You were right. You were right about everything and I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry, Ernesto…no…Anusaram."

Despite being a Hollow with a natural desire to kill Kein and take over her body and mind, such an unexpected notion of sympathy had left him speechless from the gentleness of her apology.

"I don't care…if you want to kill me. In fact, I don't blame you. I couldn't imagine what it's like being stuck in this world, all alone with no true way out. And for me to just expect you to give me your powers? I can't even fathom doing that now."

His body was fading up to his chest now as well as part of his head as it began to vanish within her hand.

"From now on, I will not use your powers for my own sake, but for _our_ sake. I will use you and Bankaguna's powers for what they were meant to be used as. Above all else, I will fight alongside you…not against you. So please, never leave me. I never want you to be gone from this world."

Ernesto merely chuckled in a nonchalant grunt as his body was nearly gone.

"Your childish nature never ceases to intrigue me, Kein, but if you're truly serious about controlling my power, make sure you don't die before I show up again!"

And from that last moment he disappeared as the entirety of her inner world brightened to a blinding light. The barrier that Hachi had put up began to fill with the same intense light as an explosion erupted blowing smoke and dust everywhere as an idle silhouette stood within the smoke and debris. The Vizards watched as the nearly Hollowfied monstrous Kein had cracked off like a shell from a snail, revealing its inner most being. Kein stood silent and daunting as her full Hollow mask had appeared once again.

"Hachi," Shinji stated his name as Hachi merely snapped his finger and the barrier cracked and crumbled, falling to the ground in golden shimmers. Kein fell to her knees and face planted into the ground from exhaustion, the mask rolled off her face. Mashiro leaned over onto Hachi's knee as she asked, "Is Ms. Reaper okay? Hachin?" He placed a finger up to his lip and hushed her silent.

"So…how does it feel?" Shinji asked Kein as she slowly turned on her back, looking up at him, grinning as she replied, "Fantastic." He grinned back at her, "Good."

_…Kurosaki Residence…_

"Welcome back, Ichigo!" Isshin came charging at Ichigo planting his elbow into his son's face as Ichigo fell to the floor, but something was off. He wasn't fighting back with his usual attitude that he had towards his dad and his goofy antics.

"Wh-What the?"

"H-Hey, Dad! What were you doing? Are you okay, brother?" Yuzu rushed over to Ichigo as he stayed slumped over on the ground in a rather depressed type of fashion as Karin soon entered the room to see what the commotion was about.

"W-W-What's wrong, Ichigo? You don't seem yourself. I've got it! Today you did just terrible on your first test after break today, didn't you? Don't worry, Ichigo. The man Kurosaki Isshin is not such a small man that he would make a fuss over mere test grades! Your grades dropped? So what? What's with grades? Grades are worth shit!"

"This doesn't sound like something a parent should say," Karin budded in. "When you're a high school student, you should work hard to fall in love or do something like that where, you know, you can't tell your parents about it! Work hard! Put in some effort!"

"Is falling love something you can't tell your parents?" Yuzu asked innocently.

"About ninety percent of that romance stuff is done during the mating season!"

"You mean adolescence," Karin corrected. Ichigo had finally got up as he stood on the other side of his father, "Sorry. I'm going to stay in my room until dinner time."

"Huh? Ichigo? Ichigo!"

"It's because you didn't apologize! Jeez!" Yuzu scolded. Ichigo just merely went to his room and placed his bag down upon his desk. Kon popped his head out from the vibration,

"Well, if it isn't Ichigo! You're back pretty early! I wasn't waiting for you or anything, but welcome home." Despite his usual welcome to Ichigo, Ichigo didn't reply as he stood silently with his back turned.

"What's this? What's this? What's this? Here I am greeting you and all you can do is look gloomy like some voodoo doll! Answer me! Hey! Hey, hey! Or rather, how did your dad look? Was he normal? Was he any different from usual…"

Without warning Ririn came out of nowhere and side kicked him to the ground. "Look here you! Don't be talking about this father, you stupid stuffed animal!" She whispered into his ear, reminding him of what Urahara had told him the night before.

"Mr. Kisuke would turn you into nothing but a pile of cotton and felt! Ah, thank goodness I came by to check on you!" Kon quickly turned to Ichigo who was sitting on the edge of his bed, "Your dad's so normal that it makes me yawn!"

"Didn't I say not to go there!" Ririn warned as he began to choke Kon, but the two were distracted when Ichigo laid over and slumped upon his stomach, his face laying sideways on his bed. The two jumped up to the edge of the bed as they looked at him in concern.

"Ichigo, What's wrong?"

"Not much," he finally answered "It's nothing. Sorry, but could you leave me alone?"

"But…"

"…what's with you? As soon as you got home you started acting all dark and depressed!" Kon interrupted.

"Hey, what's with you?" Ririn retorted.

"Worrying about stuff together with you would be nasty! There's no way I'm going to hang out with you. I'm going out for a walk. Let's go, Ririn!"

"But…"

"…come on already!"

"Hey! What's the deal?" She asked as Kon dragged her out the window and onto the rooftops. "If you're going to brood, then do it by yourself!"

"Hey! What were you trying to do?"

"Pfft, you need to be considerate when you're a freeloader."

"What's with him trying to act all cool!"

Ichigo was now left alone to his thoughts as he laid still and silent upon his bed as flashes of his Inner Hollow went through his mind. _"After I drove him out, that mask would come back even if I threw it out. And now it's suddenly disappeared. That's when it started. Ever since then I've been able to hear it. I can hear his voice inside of me calling out. Hirako didn't even need to mention it, but how…how can Kein talk about it so calmly like it's no big deal? Does she not fear it? Does she not fear it taking over her body and mind? At this rate…"_

_"…at this rate…what?..._

He gasped at the sound of an unwanted voice speaking out in his head as he sat up in bed abruptly. "You!"

_"Don't you think that you're a bit too scared, Ichigo? You're so easy to figure out! How interesting. I'm going to scare you even more!"_

Ichigo looked around his room, but no matter how clear cut the sound of that voice in his head was, there was nothing he could see in front of him. There was simply no one there.

_"I'm going to draw closer and closer to you, but not just day by day, I'm going to do it a lot faster now!"_

A Hollowfied cackle could be heard as the voice continued, _"I'm drawing closer to you now than I ever was before! And at this rate, I'm going to get much, much closer to you! I'm going to devour you!"_

Ichigo clenched his fists upon his bed sheets as he had no choice, but to listen to the ongoing taunt of his Inner Hollow, _"And then, you will disappear. At this rate, things aren't looking too good for you. See yah!"_

Ichigo was then alone once more as he sat almost shaking from nervousness on his bed.

"What should I do?"

But the tension in the air was broken by a sudden knocking on his door. "Brother, can I come in?" Karin asked from the other side of the doorway.

"Karin." She opened the door slowly and entered into his room with a stern look on her face.

"I want you to tell me what you're so worried about, brother." Ichigo hunched over slightly, resting his elbow on his knee as he closed his eyes.

"What are you talking about? I'm not worried about anything."

"I know. I know about it! Brother, I know that you're a Shinigami!" Ichigo gasped, not expecting the conversation to be such as this.

"I'm a…Shinigami." He then began to chuckle, "What's with that? A Shinigami…what are you talking about, Karin? Are you…"

"…don't fool around. I can see them. And I can see your friend…Kein. I've been able to for a long time now."

Ichigo gasped once more as she further stated, "At first I didn't know what was going on, but old man Kanoji…" but suddenly she was interrupted as it felt like the entire place was shaking. Both of them could feel it as it felt like a shift in the atmosphere had emerged as Ichigo could sense some very deadly reiatsus, ones he had never sensed before at this level and intensity.

Orihime and Chad were nearby in the area as they too were alarmed, "What's with this reiatsu?" Chad asked rhetorically as they looked on in the direction it was coming from. Urahara too was concerned when the wave of reiatsu hit his shop.

"Dad, was that en earthquake just now?" Yuzu asked her father as he stood silently, but he did not answer. Ichigo quickly got up from his bed after the shaking stopped and was ready to pop out his window. "Brother!" She looked up at her brother as he gazed upon her sternly. "Karin." He had no time to explain anything to her at this point in time.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go." He turned to leave, but Karin grabbed his wrist to bid him from leaving. "Where are you going, brother?" It was hard for him ignore the look of concern on her face as she was deeply worried.

"Sorry," he stated once more as he yanked his hand away, grabbing from his pocket the Shinigami representative badge and held it against his chest as Karin watched in question. Within seconds his Shinigami form popped out from his body as his body flopped as a dead weight upon his bed. Karin could only look up in awe and worry as her only brother left without another word. Chad and Orihime were running down the street, following the strange activity that was going on. They passed a man that was on the sidewalk, but stopped as he suddenly fell over and became instantly lifeless, like his life was sucked out from his body.

"Wait, Sado!"

"It's no use, Inoue. They're already dead. You can see it, can't you? Something is sucking out people's souls."

"No way! Maybe they could be…"

"…no, they're not Bounts. They're supposed to be gone now. Besides, both the method and the scale of the attack are different."

"Then who? Why are they doing something like this?" She asked a bit naively. "Let's hurry!"

As they were running Chad knew that whatever fight they were about to encounter would most likely be very dangerous, especially for Orihime. "I'd like to ask you a favor, Inoue. When we get there, would you please stay back and take care of anyone who is still alive?"

"But, Sado, on your own you'll…"

"…I understand your desire to fight, but you need to heal those who are injured. You're the only one who can save the survivors. I'm counting on you, Inoue."


	5. The Arrancars

**The Arrancars**

There were bodies scattered everywhere amongst the location where the spiritual pressure had emerged. They were lifeless clumps of meat that had had their souls sucked out, but standing in the middle of the scene were two idle beings talking to each other. They wore clothes in white attire, black and white striped shoes, white hakama pants, and Hollow mask pieces adorned on their heads. One was rather large, partially bald with a jagged beard. He was loud, obnoxious, and a little on the ill-common sense side. His mask was a jaw bone that stretched from one ear to the other. He had orange eyebrows, red shaped markings on his cheek bones, and his hole was in the middle of his chest. The other was rather small in comparison, thin and lanky who's face was of a pure white and had green lines that went from his eye's down to his chin, almost resembling a mime.

His head wore half a helmet that acted as his Hollow mask and in the middle of his throat, between his collar bones, was his hole. He was quiet and withdrawn, silent in speech and much more powerful. "These people can't see us," the smaller one continued on in conversation "It's not like they were looking at you."

"I know that, but it still makes me mad! So? How many people should we kill?" The bigger one asked. "Just one. There is no need to kill anyone else."

"We're only killing one out of this whole herd?"

"I've heard that there are at most three people in the real world with reiatsu levels high enough that they could actually put up a fight. Everyone else is just trash. Finding him is going to be easy," the smaller one explained as his green emerald eyes were looking to the side nonchalantly.

Amidst their conversation, it was interrupted by the sounds of small moans as a girl in the distance slowly pushed herself up from the ground. It was Tasuki, Ichigo's classmate. Unlike the others around her, her soul had not been sucked out. "This is unexpected. There's a survivor," the smaller one stated.

"W-What happened? Just what…w-what are they?"

The two white clothed beings approached her as the bigger one stomped his foot in front of Tasuki. She looked up at him, but could not look away. He grinned down at her in a jeering type of manner as he chuckled slightly, "For my Gonzui to fail at tearing out your soul, you must have a bit of soul power hiding in you somewhere! Right? Ulquiorra, is this the one?" He asked, looking over his shoulder at his partner.

"Take a better look, you idiot," Ulquiorra replied "Her soul is about to break simply by you being close to her. She's merely trash." The bigger one looked back at Tasuki as he scoffed, "So, she was just lucky that she survived my Gonzui. What a joke."

Then without further conversation, he lifted his leg to hit her hard enough to kill her, but was abruptly stopped by a man with a black and red covered right arm. He gasped slightly as it was revealed that Chad had intervened at the scene while Orihime stood behind and protected Tasuki. He took his foot away as the bigger Arrancar asked, "Who are you two?" Chad held his arm as the kick was a lot more powerful then he was expecting. As suspected, this Arrancar was something Orihime could never take on.

"Inoue! Do just as we discussed. Take care of Arisawa and stay back!" She nodded in agreement, "Please don't overdo it, Sado!"

"Ulquiorra! Is this him?" the bigger one asked again in blunt ignorance of his lack of understanding his opponent.

"Yami, you really must work on your investigative powers so that you can determine that on your own. You should be able to tell with just one glance. That guy is trash."

"I see!" Powering up his right arm, Chad punched into the air, shooting a giant wave of energy from his fist while Orihime was carrying Tasuki off to the forest behind them. She looked over her shoulder from the commotion of the impact, but what she saw made her heart sink. Yami had merely reflected his blast and had hit back with one arm into Chad's fist, completely demolishing nearly his entire arm as blood spattered out. He thudded upon the ground unconscious. Gasping, she quickly put Tasuki down and ran over to Chad.

"Sado! Sado! Sado! Hang on!" As she cried out to him, Yami once again stated his partner's name in a slow type of manner, "Ulquiorra! Is this woman trash as well?" Ulquiorra closed his eyes as he replied, "Yeah, she's trash."

"Heh, I see!" Inoue in mid tears looked on in grave concern at Chad's condition.

_"Surely he must have known that these people are too strong for both of us to stand up against. That's why he protected Tasuki and me. That's why he fought on his own."_

Seeing as it was just a mere woman, Yami simply lifted one finger and began to shove it in her direction, ready to crush her every bone, but her sweet voice called out in the moment, "Santen Kesshun!" A golden triangular shield flashed forth, stopping Yami's attack as it then crackled and crumbled. She stood up in defiance.

"What is she?"

"Souten Kisshun!" She called out her second chant as one of her hairpins flashed forth from her hair and covered a golden orb layer over Chad's arm to begin healing on him as his arm began to slowly restructure together. "What? You're healing him? Or rather, is that guy even alive? He's pretty stubborn."

This woman had suddenly caught Ulquiorra's attention as he thought to himself, _"A healing technique? No, that's not it. This isn't a healing technique. She's either reversing time or dimensions. Whichever the case may be, it's different from a healing technique. This is something that I've never seen before."_

"You're a strange human, woman."

Orihime knew that at this point she had to hold on until Ichigo arrived, but then she questioned that very thought as she wondered why she always relied on Ichigo. Even though she had gone to Soul Society twice, she felt she had come home without having done anything. She didn't want to be a burden upon Ichigo, even though she didn't know what he was worrying about, but at the very least she could stand up to these guys without relying on Ichigo and reassure him that this was all she could do for now.

"Tsubaki! Koten Zanshun!" She was determined to fight as she called forth her last technique of her cutting shield as a golden orb of light surrounded her outstretched hands, ready to fire. "I reject!"

With a blazing speed, her Tsubaki flew out from her hands, but Yami merely put up a hand and stopped it like it was nothing. From the impact Tsubaki had been destroyed as Yami looked at her in annoyance, "What was that? A fly?" She gasped in disbelief, "Tsu-Tsubaki! It can't be!"

Yami took a step up to her as his foot stomped upon the ground, momentarily shaking it for a few seconds as he asked yet again, "What should I do, Ulquiorra? Should we take her back to Mr. Aizen since she has some unusual techniques?"

"Aizen?" She questioned.

"No, there's no need to. Kill her, Yami," Ulquiorra commanded.

"Alright!" And with one open palmed hand, he thrust it towards Orihime to crush her, but he stopped when the tip of a sword was an inch from his palm. Standing in protection of Orihime was a Shinigami with familiar orange hair. "Who the hell are you?" Yami asked in further irritation. "Kurosaki," Orihime called out to him.

"Sorry," he began as he looked over his shoulder back at Orihime "I'm late Inoue." She sighed and looked away in shame, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Kurosaki. If only I…I was stronger…"

"…please don't apologize, Inoue. Don't worry about it. I'll defeat these guys and then, it'll all be over!"

Placing a hand upon his forearm he chanted, "Bankai!" His reiatsu shot out in an enormous amount as it overwhelmed Orihime, nearly knocking her back, surrounding the entire area with his power. Slashing his sword downward, he flashed the smoke away from him, revealing to Yami and Ulquiorra his Bankai. "Tensa Zangetsu."

Orihime was amazed at seeing his Bankai since this was her first time seeing it up close, never imagined it being so incredible, but it felt a bit different from the one she felt at Soukyoku Hill. She felt his reiatsu was so rough and fierce, heavy as if it was smothering her. It didn't feel like Ichigo to her at all.

"Inoue, back away." "Okay," she submitted as she went over to Chad's side. "Did you say Bankai?" Yami asked, scratching his head in question. Hey, Ulquiorra! Is he the guy?" He asked yet again out of sheer ignorance.

"Yes. Who would have thought that your flailing about could smoke him out so easily? Orange hair, black Bankai…there is no mistaking it. This is our target, Yami."

"So he saved us the trouble of looking for him! I'm lucky!" He roared with an arrogant shout as he threw his fist at Ichigo, but Ichigo merely threw up his sword and blocked it with ease.

"Are you the one who did that to Chad's right arm?" Yami smiled in reply, "What about it?"

In a jumping somersault, Ichigo landed behind Yami as within seconds Yami's right arm had been cut off and landed upon the ground.

"My arm! My arm! Damn it!" He yelled out as Ulquiorra looked on at him in snide thought. He felt Yami was foolish for going in for a direct attack without even evaluating his opponent's strength; hence his reason for telling Yami that he should work on his investigative powers.

_"But that brat, to think that he cut through Yami's steel skin and cleaved off his arm just like that. I heard that he just recently obtained Bankai, yet his reiatsu is so tempered. However, at this level, I don't think he represents much of a threat to Lord Aizen."_

Yami tried to hit Ichigo again, but the carrot topped Shinigami merely dodged around like a speedy devil, landing yet again in front of Yami with ease.

"Damn you, you brat!"

Ichigo swung his sword up upon his shoulder as he asked in a calmed mocking type of manner, "You can still stand up? You're just as tough as you appear."

"You're having quite a hard time, aren't you?" Ulquiorra asked in further mockery "Do you want me to fight him for you?" Yami turned around almost in a rage and retorted "Shut up!"

He grabbed for his sword as Ulquiorra further interrupted, "Are you going to use your Zanpakutou on a runt like this?"

"I told you to shut up!"

Ichigo gasped slightly at the word. He knew that Yami had a sword, but he wasn't sure if it was just a weapon or truly a Zanpakutou. Viewing over Yami's other features he wondered, _"A broken Hollow mask, a hole in his chest and a Zanpakutou…I thought I felt a strange reiatsu before even coming here. Just what are these guys? Is this what Kein had told me before? Are these guys Arrancars? Are they related to Hirako, Kein and I?"_

In mid thought he was rudely interrupted by the same familiar voice that rang out in his head, _"Switch with me!"_ Ichigo staggered a little as he placed a hand upon his face, feeling a gut wrenching feeling within his body. Orihime looked on at him in concern. _"I can kick their asses if you switch out with me!_ His inner Hollow urged him on, but in defiance Ichigo shot back, _"Go away! Go away! Go away! GO AWAY!"_ In mid stagger, Yami took the opportunity to kick Ichigo straight in the stomach as large amounts of spit and saliva shot forth from his mouth. In a near panic Orihime stood up to go after him, calling out his name "Kurosaki!"

Desperately regaining his balance, he looked over his shoulder yelling "Stay back, Inoue!"

But putting his guard down for those mere few seconds, Yami then punched his head to the ground. Orihime was going to call forth her protective shield, but Yami swung back his hand, hitting her clear across the face so hard that it had knocked her nearly unconscious as spit flew from her mouth as well. Ichigo stood up from the ground, yelling her name in anger, "Inoue!"

"Shut up!" Yami commanded as he began to pound his fist upon his back. Then with forceful swings, he started knocking him back and forth with his fist.

_"Damn it! My body won't move! I rejected you and now you're trying to get in my way? Damn it!"_

Yami caught him in mid fall as he held Ichigo's head in his palm. "I don't know what's going on, but he's suddenly stopped moving!" Ulquiorra thought it strange that the boy's reiatsu was fluctuating, but not that widely.

_"When his reiatsu is low, it's inconsequential, but when it's high, it's greater than mine. What's going on here?_" he thought to himself. With one final swing, Yami slammed Ichigo's body downward, but before it could hit the ground, Ichigo's body disappeared from Yami's grasp.

"Wh-What the…" within the blink of an eye Ichigo could now be seen in the arms of a woman with light blue hair and adorned in black clothing that was trimmed with yellows, reds, and light blues. She held Ichigo gently as she looked on at the two Arrancars before her. Ichigo blinked as it took him a moment to realize who was holding him.

"K-Kein?" However, she wasn't alone. In front of her was Urahara and Yoruichi. "Hello! Sorry that we're late, Mr. Kurosaki."

Yami looked on in disgust as he was beginning to become heated over the constant irritations, "What? People just keep popping up and getting in the way! Butting in like this means you want me to kill you first, right?"

He punched again as Yoruichi grabbed his wrist and flipped him to the other side of the battlefield behind her. "Take care of him!" Yoruichi commanded. "Sure thing!" Urahara agreed with a smile, holding his hat from flying off. After placing a bag in Urahara's hands, Yoruichi, him, and Kein jumped quite a few feet away, dodging Yami's punch attack. Kein then landed as she held Ichigo upright, letting him sit partially upon the ground.

"Sorry Ichigo. I wish I could have gotten here sooner."

Yoruichi went in for a move as she punched Yami's face to the side, then kicked him to the back of the head as she then came crashing down with both fists upon his skull. Launching herself high up into the air she came down once more with a violent downward kick of her leg as she cracked it upon his head, as he fell over limp, face first into the ground. Ulquiorra watched in silence as Yoruichi then went over to Orihime and held her gently, cupping her cheek in her right hand.

"Ms. Y-Yoruichi…"

"…yeah."

"How's…Kurosaki?"

"He's fine. Don't worry," she stated as she held up a white pill between her fingers. "Can you swallow this?" She asked in a calm soothing voice as Orihime nodded, "Yes," but they were interrupted as Yami's hand flinched, showing signs he was still very much conscious.

"You're a poor loser, aren't you?" In a now angered rage, Yami stood up as he opened his mouth, a Cero forming within it. "Soul Flash!" she yelled as the Cero was shot. The entire area erupted as Yami cackled, "Take that! They were blown to bits! There's no way she could have dodged my Cero at this distance!"

But to his surprise as the smoke cleared, Urahara was seen standing in front of Yoruichi and Orihime. "What the? What did you do? How were you able to do that to my Cero?" Urahara merely smiled as he replied, "It's just as you saw it. It would have been dangerous for everyone around me if I simply repelled it, so I just negated it by hitting it with a similar attack."

"What did you say?"

When the smoke had completely cleared it could be seen that the negated attack had split the ground In half between Yami and Urahara. Kein stood protectively in front of Ichigo as he was able to move a bit better now on his own. "How about I show it to you again if you don't believe me?"

Yami flinched as Urahara chanted, "Sing, Benihime!"

A red raging light flashed forth from Benihime as it rushed towards Yami in a slicing motion, but just before it was about to hit Yami, Ulquiorra teleported in front of him and deflected the attack away with his bare hand.

"Ulquiorra…" Yami smiled, but his stomach was quickly met by a backwards swing as his partner knocked him back, nearly taking the wind out of him as Yami staggered and fell to one knee. "What are you doing?"

"You idiot. You're getting in over your head. These guys are Urahara Kisuke and Shihouin Yoruichi. At your current level, you wouldn't be able to defeat them."

"Wait! What about that blue haired woman. You haven't said a thing about her." Ulquiorra looked over at Kein briefly, examining her reiatsu level. "Trash, just merely trash."

Kein gritted her teeth. She had a very good knack for hiding her reiatsu to the point that it almost couldn't be felt, but she didn't appreciate being called _trash_. It lit a small fire in her as she was tempted to attack him, but she knew it would be foolish. Ichigo's safety as well as the other's was more important than protecting her pride. Ulquiorra then turned his back as he tapped his fingers on the atmosphere in front of him, opening up a garganta, "We're leaving."

"Trying to run away?" Yoruichi asked him, but he turned and faced her with almost a hint of a smile, "Such provocation is unlike you. It's obvious who has the advantage when the two of you are trying to protect that worthless trash while fighting against us at the same time. I've completed the mission assigned to me. I'm going to report in to Lord Aizen."

Kein gasped as the name rung through her mind as small pieces connected together as she thought about back when she had fought Aizen in Soul Society before he left. She wasn't sure how, but it just made sense to her that the arrival of these Arrancars was no doubt in connection to Aizen and the Hougyoku.

"I'm going to tell him that the Shinigami he had his eyes set on is trash that isn't even worth killing," his statement finished as the portal to Hueco Mundo closed. Kein looked on in question as she thought _"Shinigami? Who the hell are they talking about? Were they after me?"_ But then she realized as she looked over her shoulder at Ichigo, that the only other Shinigami she knew Aizen would even have a lick of interest in would be Ichigo. She feared for his safety, but at this point Ichigo could only sit in a solemn silence, and shame. It wasn't long before the group met up back at Urahara's shop. Yoruichi was munching away at food while Chad and Orihime were bandaged up and laid upon some futons on the floor in separate rooms however Kein knew Ichigo would need to be returned home.

Upon request, she decided to bandage Ichigo up herself as the two sat silently while Kein wrapped up his wounds. Urahara had retrieved Ichigo's body from his room and had brought it to the shop for him to enter back into it. She wanted to ask Ichigo so badly what happened and why he was so quiet, but she figured that he would tell her in time and respected his silence. Urahara soon entered the room after a chat with Yoruichi and their concerns about the incredible power of the Arrancars they faced.

"How is he?" He asked in a low tone. "He'll be fine. He wasn't nearly as injured as Chad and Orihime, but don't you think I should heal him anyway? I mean what if those guys come back?"

"Then we'll take care of them. Besides, since the situation has grown dramatically more concerning, we can't risk you being out for two days. With your recent _training_ I'd say you have a better chance at those guys than he does. You might be needed in his momentary absence of healing, so just take him home for now."

"Wait…how did you…"

"…know? Heh, heh, Ms. Marasuna I always keep an eye on you. How could I not?"

She stared blankly at him, but then smiled a little, knowing he always had her back.

"Right. Well we better get going. Come on Ichigo," she gently urged as he stood up beside her. "I'll be right back," he simply stated as he entered into Orihime's room and knelt down beside her bed.

"I-Ichigo?" His expression was almost empty as he looked her in the eyes. It was hard for her to see him like that.

"Inoue…I…"

"…please don't apologize. I jumped out on my own and I got injured on my own. It doesn't hurt at all, so…so please don't apologize to me with that look on your face."

Kein entered into the room as she gently spoke aloud, "Ichigo. Your…sisters are probably worried. We should return you home."

"Right…" he agreed solemnly as he stood up and walked out the room with Kein as Orihime interrupted Kein from leaving, "Ms. Kein."

"Hm?" She turned her head looking back at Orihime. "Yes?"

"Please…take care of him." A hint of sadness could be seen in her eye as Kein replied, "Yeah, don't worry about it. I've got it covered. You just rest here and recover, okay?"

When they had entered outside, it was dark, gloomy, and raining. She hated the rain as she found it to be very depressing to look at let alone did she like being all wet. She went as quickly as possible to return Ichigo home through his bedroom window. He didn't say a word as she helped him back in. She turned her head as he stripped down to just his grey boxers and laid upon the bed silently. She wasn't sure if to go or to stay, but since he hadn't spoken a word to her, she figured if he wanted her to leave he would have asked her to already.

She sat at the chair of his desk, folding her arms and resting her head upon them, periodically looking at Ichigo. Kon popped out in his usually obnoxious attitude yelling, "KEEEEEEIIIINNNN!" He grasped upon her back happily, rubbing his little fat stuffed head back and forth, nuzzling her, but he then realized that Ichigo was all bandaged up.

"Wh-Wh-What? What happened to Ichigo?"

Kein sighed as she grabbed Kon from her back and placed him upon the desk as she sighed and replied, "Kon, not now. Just please stay quiet and let him be."

Doing as told, he merely walked over onto the bed and laid upon Ichigo's chest quietly as he didn't peep a word. At least half an hour had gone by as Kein was nearly asleep now from the silence and the pattering of the rain upon the window and street. She couldn't help but to constantly wonder what had happened and why Ichigo was in such a rut. This was the first time she had seen him ever depressed and was at a loss of what to say to him. She felt a strange tension from him and wasn't sure if it was because he wanted her gone, or because of his own inner tension. Not being able to sit still any longer Kon abruptly shot up from Ichigo's chest in a whiny tone.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! You're so unpleasant!"

Coming back down, he bounced off of Ichigo's face and landed upon his chest again, but Ichigo didn't seem to care or respond for that matter. Kein jolted slightly from the sudden outburst, looking over at Kon who was making a fuss as usual.

"On a day like this, the best thing to do is head out and pick up some ladies for some fun! Farewell, Ichigo!" He was going to launch himself out the window, but Kein was quick to grab him before the glass was broken. She hugged Kon up in her arms, pressing him against her luscious breasts as Kon blushed brightly, smiling happy as he was finally embraced by her chest once again.

"Damn it, Kon. Just shut up please. It's hard enough to sleep as it is."

She sat up in the chair, crossed her legs, and sighed, looking over at Ichigo who was still silent as ever. He was lost in thought as his inner Hollow flashed through his mind as he suddenly burst out, "At this rate…damn it!" turning on his side slightly, pounding a fist upon his pillow and then flipping over on his stomach.

Kein jolted again from the outburst, but then looked on at him sadly as she sighed heavily and thought to herself, _"I need to return back to the Vizards and continue my training. I can barely bring out my mask as it is let alone can I hold it for more than 3 seconds, but with recent events I can't go back now. If those Arrancars popped up now, who's to say they won't pop up again and put everyone in danger? I can't risk not being here to help out so I guess there's no helping it. I have to go back and let Shinji and the others know my training will have to be put on hold until we have further information on the situation. Damn it, Aizen. What the hell do you want with Ichigo?"_


	6. An Awakened Resolve

**An Awakened Resolve**

Another day started as Kein and Ichigo parted ways; Kein off to see the Vizards to explain her situation and Ichigo off to school.

"No!" Honsho shrieked upon seeing Orihime's banged up and bandaged condition.

"H-How did you get those injuries, Orihime?"

"I fell down the stairs," she replied with a sweet smile.

"Lies! That has to be a lie! There's no way the stairs did that to you!" Orihime merely chuckled nervously as Honsho retorted, "This isn't a laughing matter! I was wondering why you suddenly missed five days of school and then you show up like this! Don't make me worry so much!"

"You're not going to be all clingy today, are you?" Orihime asked. "T-There's no way I could be clingy today!" Suddenly the conversation was cut short as Ichigo's voice sounded from behind her at the doorway entrance, "Inoue…"

"…what is it, Kurosaki?" She smiled at him brightly, but he merely flinched and sighed slightly, "Well…never mind I guess. It's okay, it's nothing."

He stated as he passed her to sit down at his seat. "What's with him?" Honsho wondered out loud.

"Sorry, Chizuru. I have to run to the bathroom!"

"Wait up, Orihime!"

The two chased each other out of the room as Ichigo could only look on in a solemn sigh. He thought about after the fight when they had met up at Urahara's shop and he tried to apologize to Orhime. He thought about Chad as well, depressed at the thought that even Chad got hurt and Tasuki almost died. _"It's because I'm too weak. I don't know what to do other than apologize."_ It wasn't long before the day had already blazed by as the class was out of session as Ichigo went home in a glum mood and laid upon his bed once again, starring off into space as his thoughts clouded over him.

The next school day began as Ichigo had made it to school early, wiping down the green board from chalk as he and only a few other students were in the room, but upon the quietness, the silence was suddenly broken from the opening of the classroom door as Ichigo looked over and gasped at the sight that was in the entrance.

"Mornin! How ya been, Ichigo?" A familiar voice asked.

"Uh…R-Renji! Ikkaku! Yumichika! Rangiku! Toushiro!" Hitsugaya grunted as he retorted,

"It's _Captain_ Hitsugaya to you!"

"Why are you guys here?"

"Orders from above," Renji replied "we're to prepare for the coming battle with the Arrancar by entering the real world and joining forces with the Shinigami representative, or so we were told."

Ichigo blinked at the word as it echoed through his ears again. "Arrancar?"

Renji sighed slightly, "What's up with you? You were fighting without knowing who your enemy was?" Still not quite understanding Ichigo replied, "Fighting?" However, from the other side of the room a voice insulted, "Idiot! The guys who tore you up the other day!"

Ichigo turned to face the voice as a lit up silhouette stood on the window seal with the sunlight shining it.

"Rukia!" She smiled at him, "It's been a while hasn't it, Ichigo?"

"Ms. K-Kuchiki?"

"Whoa! She just came in through the window!"

"So that's why we haven't seen her at school in so long!"

"Idiot! That has nothing to do with not coming to school!"

"What's with the red-haired guy and the skinhead?" The students babbled in the back of the classroom as Ichigo could only look in awe at Rukia's presence, but the moment was shattered as Rukia jumped from the window and kicked Ichigo in the face.

"Wh-What the hell are you doing, Rukia?" Renji then came up behind him and locked his arms in a hold as Rukia slapped Ichigo a couple of times.

"You bitch!" He yelled.

"What's with the cowardly face, huh?" She yelled back.

Using her soul grabbing glove, she grasped her hand upon Ichigo's head and forced out his Shinigami form as she then dragged him out the window.

"Come with me!" Rangiku muttered, "I knew this would happen." Renji agreed, "Yup, this guy always needs looking after."

"Well, if someone stuck their cowardly face out like that, I'd wanna do that, too," Ikkaku added.

"Really? Even as sullen as he was, he looked pretty excited by all that."

"What? He wasn't excited at all!"

"I didn't ask for your opinion, did I, Yumichika?"

"So who are you seeking agreement from? Ikkakku?"

"Don't drag me into this!"

"Hey, you guys! Just be quiet!" Hitsugaya commanded. Rukia rode upon Ichigo's back as he carried her gigai body around while she fiddled on her cell phone.

"Hey, Rukia. Where on earth do you intend to take me?"

"Shut up. Less talking more running!" Upon following a gps on her phone, a red dot appeared as he commanded, "Right, over here. They landed upon a rooftop as Ichigo looked around asking, "Hey, what's here?"

A hollow suddenly appeared at the bottom on the street side as Ichigo looked down upon it, staring blankly. "A hollow…"

"…that's right. Go get him!"

She yelled as she kicked his butt off the ledge and onto the street to go fight it. He face planted into the ground, "Ow, that hurts." The hollow quickly took notice and began to approach Ichigo. It thrust down a fist as Ichigo dodged.

"You bastard!" He was about to withdrew his sword, but the Hollow began to smack him around with its rectangular shaped fingers as Ichigo was launched from one end of the ground to the other.

"What the hell are you doing…Ichigo? Stop playing around!"

Ichigo looked up as he recognized another voice calling out to him as he spotted Kein standing next to Rukia in her gigai from the last time she was at his school. Her hair was up in the same familiar attire with the golden 6 charmed necklace, black jacket, white shirt, black pants and black boots. Upon meeting Rukia and the others and being updated with the situation earlier in the day, Kein had told Rukia what was going on with Ichigo and wanted her to see if she could get Ichigo back to normal.

"Kein, you're here too?"

"Is this what you call fighting?" Rukia asked with a stern look in interruption. Neither of the two were giving him pleasant expressions as they glared at him coldly.

"What?"

"Don't tell me you can't even defeat a Hollow of this level!"

Rukia continued to bark at him as Ichigo retorted, "Shut up. You don't have to tell me what to do."

The Hollow approached him again as he started to once again dodge the Hollow's downward thrusts. He then jumped a good distance away behind the Hollow as he grabbed onto the hilt of his sword.

"Alright you bastard, lets go!"

_"Heh, heh, heh, I'm getting so very close to you now! And I'm just going to get closer and closer!"_ His inner Hollow called out to him in his mind. _"I'll swallow you up! I'll tear you to bits!_"

The distraction had almost cost Ichigo getting pounded on as he barely dodged the Hollow's attack, lifting up his blade to block another.

"We know all about it! Ever since being kicked around by those Arrancar, you haven't changed into a Shinigami even once! What are you afraid of?" She demanded an answer as Kein watched on in silence.

"Sado was beaten. Inoue was beaten. So what?" He had no answer to give her. "Are you a man whose resolve is so easily broken?"

Watching Ichigo wasn't an easy thing to do for Kein, but she was reminded again that Ichigo was still very young and inexperienced at these things. Having been A Shinigami for 100 years, she wasn't used to befriending someone who in their youngest living teenage youth.

"Are you afraid of defeat? Are you afraid that you cannot protect your friends?" Rukia continued to question him sternly as the Hollow cried out.

"Or are you afraid of the Hollow inside?"

Ichigo gasped slightly as he looked back at the two over his shoulder. He couldn't help but find it just a tad bit intimidating. "If you're afraid of defeat, then get stronger. If you're afraid you can't protect your friends, then get stronger and swear you'll protect them! If you're afraid of the Hollow inside of you, then keep getting stronger until you can crush it!"

Kein was a little taken back by that last sentence as she thought about Ernesto inside of her and begged to differ on the matter, but she wasn't bound to interrupt as she felt if there was anyone that could get Ichigo out of his funk, it was Rukia. The Hollow began to slowly approach, coming closer to Ichigo as he kept his gaze on the two standing behind him. He gripped tightly upon the handle of his blade.

"Even if you believe in no one else, stand tall and shout it! That's the kind of man I know you are!"

Her words pierced through Ichigo's mind as a new ray of hope shined through in his heart as he took a stand and released the wrappings on his blade, shooting out his reiatsu as it glowed brilliantly upon the ground. Rukia and Kein smiled as they watched Ichigo come alive once more as the light in his eyes returned.

"I told you to be quiet. Here I go."

And with a brilliant leap into the air and a downward slash, Ichigo destroyed the Hollow with ease. The two looked on at him in satisfaction, finally seeing Ichigo return back to his usual powerful, stubborn self.

Soon after that, by the time Rukia, Kein, and Ichigo had returned to the school to put him back in his body, school had ended as they were quick to catch up to Orihime as Rukia cried out to her, "Inoue!" dragging Ichigo behind her as Kein followed. "Ms. K-Kuchiki! Ms. Kein!"

"It's been a while! Or something like that."

"Are your injuries all better?"

"Yeah, thanks to you, I'm fine." Orihime sighed slightly, "I didn't do anything…" Kein flinched at her words wondering what she meant by them "…how long can you stay this time?"

"We can talk about that later."

Ichigo finally stood up on his feet as he panted a bit.

"Kurosaki."

He then looked up at her feeling he now had the courage he needed to tell her his thoughts as Rukia and Kein stood by him as support. "Inoue…I…"he paused in thought as he stammered on what to say next, Rukia pushing down on the back of his neck almost knocking his head between his legs, finishing off his sentence in unison with Kein "…SORRY I WAS WEAK!"

Orihime blinked a few times as Ichigo lifted up his head again so he could look her in the eyes "I…I will get stronger. I'm getting stronger! Next time, I will definitely…protect you." A new found determination could be seen in Ichigo's eyes as Inoue's expression softened.

_"Thank goodness! He's himself again."_

"Thank you, Kurosaki," she said as she turned her back, nearly in tears as her tone became more fluctuated "Thank you, Ms. Kuchiki" then turning her head over her shoulder "welcome home!"

Rukia smiled warmly. It was a warm touching moment between the three as they were all finally beginning to understand each other. Soon after that, Orihime returned home as Kein went with Rukia and Ichigo for now and would go back home to Orihime later. Upon entering through Ichigo's room Kon turned his head to find a sight for sore eyes as he looked up at Rukia.

Tears filled his eyes as he cried out and jumped up at her, "SIIIIIISSSSSSSSTERRRRRRR!" But Rukia merely put up a foot as his face planted against it and squished him into the ground.

"That's just like you, Kon."

"The way you stepped on me without a moment's hesitation! Without a doubt this is my sister! I'm…I'm so happy!"

Ichigo closed the door behind him, "Quit playing around. If you're coming in, then hurry up and come in!" Kein picked up Kon from under Rukia's foot and kept him in her arms remarking, "God you guys are so mean to him. He's just a stuffed animal after all" as she sat at Ichigo's desk. Rukia looked around the room, "This small room is just the same."

"Be quiet you. You don't have to say small. Don't compare it with Byakuya's house," Ichigo retorted in irritation.

However, outside the door of his room, Isshin and Yuzu were holding glass cups up against it and listening in on the conversation on the other side. Karin came around the corner as she caught the two peeping in the hallway.

"What's this? Just when I was wondering why no one was downstairs. What are you two doing?"

Yuzu told her to hush "It's terrible! Brother brought home not only one girl, but two with him!" "He's been bringing girls home with him since he was in middle school. Although it was just Tasuki."

"They're different from Tasuki! They're more…girlish!" Yuzu retorted.

"Tasuki's become a bit sexy since she entered high school, you know."

"S-SERIOUSLY?" Isshin interrupted in question. Karin kicked him in the face, "Don't get so excited about that, you stupid dad! At any rate, I'm not going to be surprised unless he brings home a girl the same level as Orihime."

"Really, Karin!"

"That's right! There's no way Ichigo could be that popular with the girls…" suddenly the door was slammed open and Isshin and Yuzu were knocked over with a raging Ichigo in the entrance of his room.

"Shut up!"

"Now see, he got angry!" He slammed his door back as Yuzu yelled, "I'm sorry!" Ichigo sighed in irritation, "Seriously! Making such a big fuss over me!"

"Your family is as happy as ever," Rukia remarked sarcastically. "Back off!" he retorted as she was sitting upon his bed, swinging her feet back and forth in a playful type of manner. Although two was more than enough company in his room, he didn't necessarily mind that Kein was there sitting quietly as always, never adding to the ruckus and respectful of his space. However, Kein couldn't help but chuckle a little as she watched the interaction between Rukia and Ichigo. This was the first time she had ever seen them interact together, but despite the cute moment Kein wanted to use this opportunity to ask Rukia something important.

"Rukia, I need to ask you something real quick since I didn't get a chance to earlier."

"Hm? Sure, go ahead Kein." Kein's expression became a bit more serious as she tossed her gaze off to the side.

"Are they still determined to come after me?"

"Hm, I'm glad you asked that actually. It was another reason why I wanted to come back here so I could tell you that they have dropped their mission to pursue you. Considering the mess with Aizen and this sudden appearance of Arrancar in Karakura town, they decided that just some things are more important. Also Captain Ukitake had urged them to leave you be and that you posed no real threat or danger that would ultimately require any action."

"C-Captain…" she sighed of relief, but also sadness. She missed her Captain and she missed Kaien. "Thank you…Rukia…for thinking about my well being."

Rukia smiled and chuckled slightly, "That's what friends are for, right?" Ichigo smiled lightly as well in the comfort of knowing Soul Society had finally dropped the issue with Kein and wouldn't further pursue the matter.

"So, about these Arrancar…" Kein urged Rukia to explain to see what information she had on them thus far, but before the conversation continued, a third voice rang out, out of nowhere, "Wait up!"

"Hm? That voice. Renji, where are you?" He got up as he looked around abruptly, not able to see where Renji was.

"We'll explain all of that to you." Little chips of the ceiling began to fall down as Ichigo, Rukia, and Kein looked up to find a perfect circular hole coming off from the ceiling as Renji and the others poked out their heads.

"Hey!" They landed upon the ground and his bed as Renji greeted, "Hey, Ichigo! It's been a while…I guess not." Becoming more flustered with the amount of people in his room he barked, "What did you guys do to my light?" Rangiku smiled as she replied, "We tried to put in a new light bulb!"

"With what?" Ikkaku glared at her, still hanging upside down as the light from the window shined upon his bald head, nearly making it sparkle. Rangiku smacked him upside the head, knocking him down.

"Don't be so uptight. Let's get along and have fun." As happy as Kon was to be nuzzling into Kein's chest, looking upon Rangiku's much larger chest began to make his heart pound.

"Those are…a woman wearing the terrible weapon called a school uniform! Sister!"

He leapt from Kein's arms and tried to burry himself within Rangiku's chest, but was quickly met by her fist as he spun wildly into the air and landed upon the ground with a squeak.

"Is doing that the in thing?" Renji asked. "No, he's always like this," Ichigo replied.

With the commotion finally settled down Renji began to explain the situation at hand, "The Arrancar are Hollow who have removed their masks and gained the power of both the Hollows and the Shinigami. Up until now, there were few of them and they were all incomplete, but complete Arrancar have been created due to their contact with Aizen, and his use of the Hougyoku."

Kein gasped slightly, finally hearing the answers she's been wanting to hear. "And those were two from the other day. You understand all this, don't you?"

"Yeah, I get it. I'd understand it even better if you didn't use that sketch book." Rukia threw the book at Ichigo as it smacked him in the face.

"At first Soul Society just planned on quietly watching Aizen until he started to move. Then we suddenly lost three captains to the enemy, but they're achieving complete forms quicker than we had anticipated. Once they were sent to the real world, we could no longer just hang back. And we're the ones they selected."

"Who chose you guys?" Ichigo asked. "Captain-Commander Yamamoto. Ever since they were killed by Aizen, Room 46 has been left vacant. So the Captain-Commander is the one making the big decisions. So, Rukia was selected since she knows you the best."

"Not true! I was selected because of my abilities," Rukia retorted.

"I'm the closest to Rukia out of all the available fighters, so I was chosen. And then I was told to pick out some fighters that I could trust who were below Captain class. I asked Ikkaku to work together with me. And then Yumichika insisted on going. When Rangiku heard the commotion he was making, she said that she wanted to come since it seemed interesting. Rangiku wouldn't hear of being left behind, and so Captain Hitsugaya had to come along as the leader. Or something like that."

"Is this a picnic?" Ichigo asked in frustration as the window to his room was opened, Hitsugaya sitting upon it's ledge. "At any rate, Aizen has definitely developed an interest in you, Kurosaki Ichigo." Rangiku turned her head with a bright smile at the sound of his voice "It's Captain Hitsugaya, the poor sport who was the only one against coming in through the ceiling."

"Have you been waiting by the window this entire time? You shouldn't do that! A silver-haired elementary school student stands out enough without you doing something like that," Renji barked.

"Shut up!" he commanded as he continued "Arrancar are certainly born when a Hollow removes its mask, but the resulting maskless Hollow is not much of a threat. If he was really going to go to war with Soul Society, then his objective in creating Arrancar is to come up with something even greater than the Menos."

"Greater than the Menos? What's with that? It sounds like you're implying that there is an even higher level than the Menos."

Kein sighed, "Have you already forgotten what I told you before. I guess I didn't go enough into detail so let me explain a few things to you Ichigo. There are three subdivisions among the Menos. The first are the Gillian; they're the lowest level, and in Human terms, you might describe them as foot soldiers. One of their characteristics is that they all look the same. Shortly after you gained Shinigami powers, you fended off one of these, right? Well, he's just a foot soldier."

The look of concern on Ichigo's face began to show. "He's a…foot soldier?"

"Don't let their looks fool you. They may be big, but they move slow and their way of thinking is nothing more than that of an animal. A Captain could cut those things down like a knife into butter. This is where the problem starts. The second class is the Adjuchas. They're smaller in size compared to the Gillian and fewer in number, but they are highly intelligent and with a much higher power in battle. They tend to take care of the Gillian. And then last but not least, the third class, the Vasto Lorde. They're the strongest of the Menos. They're practically the same size as humans as you witnessed when fighting those two Arrancars, but they are also very few in number. It is said that there is only a select number of them in all of Hueco Mundo. Unfortunately, the bottom line is…Vasto Lorde's power and abilities are greater than even a Captain's."

Ichigo flinched at the thought. Going to fight in Soul Society was a feat in and of itself, but to fight something of an even greater power?

"By changing the Menos into Arrancar, they come into possession of an unfathomable amount of power." Kein let Hitsugaya further explain, "With three of our Captains on their side, commanding these Menos, there is only one thing that can be said; if Aizen manages to bring ten Vastro Lordes under his control, then it's the end of Soul Society.

_…Hueco Mundo…_

Within the main meeting chamber of Aizen's palace, Ulquiorra and Yami had returned from their mission as they approached their Lord before their brothers and sisters. "We have returned, Lord Aizen."

"Welcome back, Ulquiorra, Yami. Now, let me hear your report here in front of your twenty brothers and sisters."


	7. Disturbance of the Peace

**Disturbance of the Peace**

"Alright, Ulquiorra, show us what you have experienced in the world of the living. All of it."

"Yes sir."

Upon reaching onto his face, Ulquiorra grabbed his left eye from its socket, brought it out as he stretched out his arm and squeezed his palm so that the essence of his eye scattered into the atmosphere.

"Here you are. See for yourselves."

The images, memories and bits of information floated along the air as all the surrounding Arrancars and Aizen closed their eyes to let the memories flow into their mind. Although it was silent, one particular male Arrancar amongst the group was rather flustered at the images he began to see. It wasn't until the last bit of the memories flowed into his head that he gasped slightly upon seeing Kein in his mind. This man was the same Arrancar that she had met upon leaving Soul Society and entering back into the Human world. He was shocked to see the woman again as it had been a while since he first laid eyes on her. He normally wouldn't have given a damn about any particular Shinigami, but _this_ one definitely had his intrigue.

"I understand. So I see you have decided that he wasn't worth killing," Aizen spoke to Ulquiorra in reference to their target, Ichigo Kurosaki.

"Yes, the orders were to kill anyone who might be an obstacle. And we learned that there was no one."

Upon giving his final statement, a voice yelled out at him in insult "You're SOFT!" The man's abrupt voice echoed throughout the chamber just like it did when he had called out to Kein the first time when she refused to answer him right away.

"If it had been me, I'd killed both of them at the first strike." This blue haired jawbone man sat idly on a ledge nearby with his surrounding Fracciones. He grinned all smug in his confidence in his opinion, feeling he was right on the matter. Ulquiorra merely looked over his shoulder back at him, "Grimmjow."

"What the hell were you thinking? If 'kill him' was part of the orders than obviously you and that oaf should have killed him right? RIGHT?"

"And I agree," one of his Fraccion joined in "the boy stood up to you. I say you should have killed him, be he worthy or not."

"And look at you, Yami! You're a mess! Then you come back and tell us he wasn't worth killing? Looks to me like you guys _couldn't_ kill him!" Yami merely glared at him,

"Grimmjow, it was clear. I know you saw what happened. The guy wearing clogs and that damn dark skinned bitch beat me up."

"That is so pathetic! A guy wearing wooden shoes and a FEMALE BEAT YOU!"

Yami stood up in offense, "PATHETIC HUH?" Ulquiorra placed up a hand to calm Yami down, "Enough. Grimmjow, I don't think you understand. That boy is no danger to us…..yet."

"Huh?"

"Lord Aizen, isn't worried about what his _current_ abilities are. It is his growth rate that is the problem. As we learned the boy has tremendous potential. Right now his powers are extremely unstable, but I sense if he doesn't self destruct he might prove useful to us in the future. _That's_ why I let him live." Despite Ulquiorra's usual calm and steady disposition with logic and reason, Grimmjow was defiant against it as he retorted, "I still maintain that you're soft! How can you predict he won't become stronger and turn against us? What about your plan THEN?"

"Should that occur, I'll get rid of him, that's all. You can't complain about that, can you?"

"Yes…well…then I'll leave it in your hands. Do whatever you deem best…Ulquiorra," Aizen interrupted. Grimmjow gritted his teeth in anger, completely disliking of Ulquiorra's decision as he added in as a last forceful question, "And what about that blue haired girl? You didn't seem to mention anything about her."

Ulquiorra looked back over at Grimmjow, a bit thrown off by his constant questioning. "She is merely trash. Her reiatsu level was below average and proved nothing more than a fly to be picked off of the wall."

"Actually, that is a very good question…Grimmjow." The two bickering Arrancars looked back up at Aizen as he sat smug upon his throne.

"That woman is not what she appears to be. Her name is Kein Marasuna. She was originally sentenced to death for obtaining Hollow powers from a Hollowfication, but apparently she has escaped Soul Society and returned to the Human world as an exiled Shinigami. Having a talent to hide the level of her reiatsu, she is almost undetectable and easy to be mistaken for a low ranking Shinigami, but no matter. Her power is just as unstable as that boy's, but she has yet to decide upon joining us or not. She views Soul Society in similar perspectives to my own and could very much be on our side as I have given her time to choose. However, as a warning to all of you; if you end up fighting her, do not take her likely. Her abilities are unique and devastating upon proper use. Until then, no more will be discussed about it. Return to your quarters until further notice."

_…Human World…_

A wailing scream could be heard from Ichigo's room as Kon squirmed about in Renji's hands as he dug around in Kon's mouth, trying to pull out the soul pill.

"Huh, when you actually think that's the best way to remove it?" Finally popping out the pill, the stuffed animal fell to the floor silently as if it were just an ordinary toy. "Mission accomplished. Here it is."

Rangiku looked at the pill in distaste, "Ugh, that is totally disgusting. You got the soul out of him without too much trouble. It's certainly constructed simply or should I say shadily, but that's the Department of Research and Development…"

"…hey…"

"…always unique…"

"… I said Hey!"

"What do you want?" Renji asked Ichigo in a rude type of manner as he popped the soul pill back into Kon's mouth as he began to squirm again.

"Any idea when you guys are gonna leave?"

"What do you mean, Ichigo? We're not going to go home. We're staying here until our fight with the Arrancars is done. No one leaves till then."

"Y-Y-You'll be staying? But where the hell are all of you planning on sleeping? Let me make this perfectly clear. We don't have enough space for you to stay here."

"Awww, you don't mean me do you?" Rangiku asked with the batting of her girly eyelashes.

"Yikes! What the hell? Uh, no way! You've got to be kidding me! You're the last person I'd let say here! What makes you think I would in the first place?"

Kein sighed as she watched in amusement to Rangiku's usual antics of persuasion as Rangiku began to unbutton the top of her shirt. Renji blushed beside her as Ichigo became more frantic.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? You can't change my mind by undoing a button!"

"Hm?" She then began to lift the top of her skirt slightly as Ichigo covered his eyes, but not completely. "NOT EVEN IF YOU LIFTED YOUR SKIRT A LITTLE! Damn it! I will not give into temptation! A man like me doesn't GIVE INTO TEMPTATION!"

"Really? Then why are you peeking through your fingers?" Rukia asked as Kein merely laughed at the scene, finding it rather hilarious that Ichigo was being so skittish.

Everyone was outside now as they began to part ways. "Well, for now I'll be Orihime's guest and I'll sleep in her bed!" Kein frowned, "But you didn't even ask her."

"Oh there isn't any rush. She's the kind of girl who doesn't know how to say no."

"What? If you think I'm just going to let you waltz right in her place and crowd us you're…"

"…oh calm down Marasuna. Don't you think it'd be fun with just the three of us girls at her place?"

"Kh, yeah but…I think you're missing the point." Kon blushed at the conversation,

"Wah? Rangiku, Kein, and Orihime will be sleeping in the same room?" He imagined them all naked as blood gushed from his nose.

"Oh let me be the gardener in your forbidden flower garden!" Kein sighed as Rangiku squished Kon upon the ground.

"Captain, how would you like to come?"

"No way, I won't!"

"You should come," Rangiku encouraged in her playful sensual voice "it'll be fun…"

"…for you maybe," he retorted as the two walked down the street following Kein.

"We better get going as well," Ikkaku added. "You have somewhere to go?" Ichigo asked in a snide tone. Ikkaku sighed as he replied, "Of course I don't. There's no need to worry. Last thing I'd do is depend on _you_. I'll find a place to stay on my own."

"Alright, and keep that wooden sword of yours out of sight!"

"Well then, I guess I'll be going to Urahara's place for a while," Renji stated. "You're going to mooch off him again?"

"I wouldn't dream of it. Just what are you saying? However…there _is_ something I want to ask him about."

"Oh is that so?" Ichigo asked rhetorically as he and Rukia waved him goodbye. "You be careful now!" Rukia stated with a cheerful smile.

"So…have you figured out where _you're_ going to be staying?" Without answering, Rukia rushed towards Ichigo's house as he panicked, "Ah! Wait a minute! Rukia!"

"Don't be stupid! This is obviously the only place that is right for me!" She yelled as she kicked off her shoes at the entrance and quickly went in.

"Are crazy? My family has seen you! What excuse do you plan on giving them? Listen to me you!"

As Rukia explained her little white lie to Isshin and Yuzu, Yuzu's eyes filled up with tears. With a napkin to wipe away her fake tears, Rukia further lied in a sobbing type of mournful tone, "So you see I lost everything and I don't have a place to stay and I don't have any money for food."

Ichigo frowned in his stern usual expression, rather sickened by Rukia's story, finding it cliché, bland and downright irritating as he looked over to the side and grunted in a low groan. Yuzu embraced her dad in tears as she begged, "Please let her stay here, please dad!"

"You got it Yuzu, in the bottom of my heart I felt the same thing!" Throwing a thumbs up he replied further in balling tears, "You can stay as long as you like, poor girl!"

Rukia looked back at Ichigo with a thumbs up as she smiled. Ichigo stared at it blankly with a glare, "What are you doing? You might want to keep that thumb hidden Rukia or they'll catch onto your act." Isshin went over and planted himself against the poster of his wife on the wall. "Mother! Listen to me mother, I'm overwhelmed with joy!"

"Of course from the way he's acting right now it doesn't seem like he has any doubts."

Karin stood idly in the kitchen entrance as she watched the scene quietly. However, despite this light hearted moment occurring at the Kurosaki household, outside was anything but light hearted as a garganta opened up in the sky, disturbing the peace and revealing a group of Arrancars as the light from the evening sky shined in through the blackened dimensional rip as it lit up the feature of a man's face that was adorned with an external jawbone, blue hair, and a grin that could kill.

Orihime opened her door at the sound of knocking as she found Rangiku and Kein standing idly outside the doorway. "Huh? You want to stay over?"

"Sorry Orihime, but she _insisted_ on freeloading."

"Awww, you're so mean Marasuna. You know we were sent here and have no choice, but to spend the night somewhere without any money." Kein chuckled slightly, "Yeah, yeah I'm just kidding with yah. I know you have no choice, but then again it's not my decision if you can come in or not," she remarked as she simply slipped on in past Orihime leaving Rangiku with a pout on her face.

"Well…actually…I'm fine with her staying but…" in interruption Rangiku hugged Orihime, smothering her much larger rack on top of Orihime's.

"Great! Good girl! I knew you wouldn't turn _me_ away. That's what I love about you Orihime!"

"Rangiku stop smothering her! She's injured enough as it is."

"Hey, I know, a bath! The excitement today sure got me all sweaty" she stated as she pulled back the top of her shirt and pointed "you see?"

Orihime in hesitation said, "Uh, okay right this way…"

"…wanna join me Orihime?"

"Huh? Well I've already had my-ow, ow, ow that hurts Rangiku!" Nuzzling her hand around Orihime's head while hugging her from behind "Oh, hold on for a moment." Rangiku reopened the door as she called out to her Captain who was sitting atop the roof. "If you have nowhere else to go then you can come and join us."

"Kh, yeah…that'll happen."

Orihime prepared the tub as Kein returned to her body that was being kept safe by a replacement soul pill. "Thanks for taking care of me, but I gotta go back now."

"Yes, sir, Marasuna!"

"Uh…you don't have to call me sir." Upon merging back with her body, she took the replacement soul pill and put it in her pocket for safe keeping. She rejoined up with Orihime finding her to be sitting idly outside the bathroom entrance and leaned up against the wall while Rangiku was enjoying a nice hot bath. Kein laid down upon the floor beside her as she stretched out her muscles, feeling comfortable in her own body again.

"So how's the bath?" Orihime asked. "It's fine though it is a bit small," Rangiku replied. "Oh I'm sorry."

"Oh no, I'm sorry it's great!"

"So can I help? Why are you so serious?" Orihime gasped a little, not expecting Rangiku to be so perceptive. "W-What? Am I? I feel fine!"

"Come on, tell me all about it. I'm a pretty good listener, and I'm sure Miss Tomboyish and Silent over there would be glad to hear it as well, right Kein?"

Kein cocked and eyebrow as she answered, "Well of course. In fact, I was actually going to ask the same thing. So tell us what you're thinking…Orihime."

"O-Oh…but…I'm fine…really!"

"I'll have to punish you if you don't tell me," Rangiku playfully bantered.

"Oh brother," Kein replied in a mutter. She sat there for a moment as she let her thoughts and feelings flow through her mind as she tried to think of what to say to the two of them.

"Rukia is…really something…isn't she? With just one kick she was able to snap Ichigo right out of his funk. He had been feeling down for a while, but she got him going again." Kein listened as she heard the fluctuations in Orihime's voice as she tried to stay optimistic in tone. Kein was also keeping an eye on Orihime's body language as she noticed her rubbing her feet together with a hidden tension.

"I…I guess I'm pretty terrible, aren't I? I really wanted Ichigo to cheer up. It's all I wanted. I thought it was all I wanted at the time, but when Rukia came back and cheered up Ichigo, I should have been happy and yet I couldn't do it, but it was great and yet…and yet…and yet…" her tone began to soften into a teary type of lament as tears fell from her eyes and landed upon her legs, leaving dark spots within the coloring of her pants. Kein sat up slowly as she looked in at Orihime with sympathy. She suspected that Orihime had a thing for Ichigo, but didn't know how deep her feelings truly lied.

"…in truth? I feel jealous. I wish I didn't. Rukia is kind and gentle, strong and beautiful. She lifted Ichigo's spirits and has a special chemistry with him."

A small chill went up Kein's spine as she too felt she had a layer of feelings for Ichigo, but seeing Orihime reveal her heart openly to herself and Rangiku, how could she approach Ichigo and take Orihime's chance at being happy with someone? The moment saddened her as the chains of her heart were being pulled.

"I like her a lot! Anyway, I shouldn't…be this...way. I don't feel like this in school, but when I come home and I'm alone sometimes, I fall apart and I'm a mess."

She hunched over and rested her head against her knees as she cried into them. A few tears escaped Kein's eyes as she now regretted ever leaving Orihime alone. If she had come home more often she might have known that Orihime was truly feeling like this and could have helped soothe her inner tension. "Just hear what I'm saying, how lame. I'm being a total witch." Kein was going to go embrace her warmly, but the sound of a click could he be heard from the bathroom door as Rangiku stood in its entranceway.

"Huh? Rangiku…you're…"

"…AHHH! NAKED! WHAT THE HELL RANGIKU!" Kein burst out as she quickly turned her head, extremely modest about this sort of thing even if they were all women. Rangiku then knelt down and hugged her as she spoke gently into Orihime's ear, "You silly girl."

"Huh?" Without warning, she began to tickle Orihime. "HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA…" "…tickle, tickle, tickle…." "…HA, HA, HA, HA, STOP RANGIKU! I CAN'T BREATHE! OW, OW, I HIT MY HEAD! Oh that's funny, wait OW THAT HURTS, AH, HA, HA, HA, HA!"

She finally stopped tickling Orihime as she knelt on all fours on top of her upon the floor as Kein kept her head turned, pouting in a corner, wishing she would put some clothes on.

"You're such a fool. It's essential to be who you are, that means _you_ and Rukia. Ichigo is still a kid that hasn't learned to stand up by himself. That's why he needs both you and Rukia and….yes…even Kein."

"Hey, what the hell is that supposed to mean? Do you have any idea what I've been through in the last month or so coming back here and dealing with Ichigo?" She ranted as Rangiku took one quick look over at her, winked, and jiggled her boobs wildly making Kein blush a beat red all over her face.

"WHAT THE HELL? Damn it…why does she have to do that to me?"

"What's wrong with being jealous? You're trying your best to come to terms with some very _serious_ emotions, aren't you? We both know that it's easier to run away from these emotions and protect your heart, but look at you Orihime, standing firm and trying to deal with them because you are good."

Sobbing from the truth of Rangiku's words she sat up and nuzzled into her chest as Rangiku held her gently. "Awww, there's nothing wrong with crying poor girl. My bosom is your pillow so let it all pour out. "DAMN IT WOULD YOU PUT A TOWEL ON AT LEAST?" Kein barked again.

After a hearty meal that Kein had helped Orihime make, Rangiku let out a satisfied exhale.

"Man, I can't believe I ate all that! What an amazing meal Orihime!"

"Y-You mean that?"

"I sure do! Of course it didn't look that great, but it sure tasted delicious." Kein grunted through her nostrils, "What do you mean 'didn't look that great'?" Rangiku looked over at Kein with a playful look on her face, "I'm sorry did you say something dear?"

"What? What the hell, Rangiku!"

"I'm so glad! I always cook so much food, but nobody eats any. I figured that I had to be a weirdo or bad taste buds." Orihime was picking up the dishes to bring them to the kitchen, but Kein had gently placed a hand on her arm and had her sit back down. "Hey, I can take care of those. You're the one that needs to finish healing, but there's something I've been meaning to say to you."

"Uh…really? What is it Kein?" She asked as she sat back down at the table. Kein let out a slight sigh as she gathered her thoughts.

"I've been thinking about something lately in regard to you feeling that you haven't contributed anything since the incident with Soul Society? And I just couldn't help but wonder what would compel you to say or feel that way. You don't know how wrong you are."

Orihime gasped slightly, but was intent on hearing Kein out. "You gotta trust me when I say that I know what it's like not being able to do anything, to not have enough power to protect those close to you, but most all enough power to protect yourself. I know what's it's like…being on that end of the spectrum. It's been a long time since I ever felt that way, but I have indeed been there in your shoes, but I think you're misunderstanding something here so let me try to explain it the best way I can so that maybe you won't beat yourself up over so badly anymore. Within every group of friends there is a unique part that each person plays to help balance out the other individuals in the group."

Kein held up her fingers as she counted on by one, "First there is the protector and guardian. This person is the most powerful in the group or is at least considered the main fighter. That would be Ichigo. The next down the line is the supporting fighters that aren't as powerful, but still play a role in helping out and can pull you out of a bind when you least expect it. That would be Chad. He's the power support. Then thirdly, there is the strategist of the group. The strategist not only fights with power, but he also fights with a mix of intellect, skill, and tactics. He is the, I guess for lack of better words, brains of the group. This would be Uryuu. He may not have the strongest defense, but he can still put up a good fight on his own using his keen sense of figuring out his opponent's weakness. But out of all these roles, the one role that plays probably the largest keystone is the _Healer_."

Rangiku and Orihime stayed silent as Orihime felt touched by Kein's words. She never had thought of it like _that_ before.

"You get to do what a lot of people wish they could. You get to take people's pain away. There is no better gift than the gift of healing, the ability to mend what has been broken, to stitch together what has been torn. The healer has the weakest defense and the weakest power…but...without the healer, the others would be nothing at the end of the battle. Although the guardian is the main lead role of the group, the healer is the main _support_. You have the most difficult role, but also the most important. Without your healing technique or object reversal technique or whatever you want to call it…I think the group would be in a lot more trouble then you could ever realize."

Orihime gasped as she always felt she wasn't making that much of a difference.

"In Soul Society when Ichigo was heavily injured after his battle with Aizen, who was the one that healed him right away? It was you. And when no other person could heal me, who, without question, used her technique to help me? Again…..it was you. And when Chad went up against those Arrancar assholes and got his arm nearly demolished, who rushed in and healed him and kept him alive until Ichigo got there? Again…it was _you_."

Tears began to well up in Orihime's eyes from the kindness Kein was presenting to her in a way she never imagined it to be.

"Ichigo needs you Orihime. He needs you just as much as Rukia…and just as much as me. So promise me that you will never again try to convince yourself that you have done nothing to contribute."

After a momentary silence Orihime replied, "I…I promise."

Kein smiled at her as she was finally able to get her thoughts out to Orihime. It was something she has been meaning to tell her for a while now.

"So, if Ichigo is the guardian, and Chad the support, Ishida the strategist, and I the healer…then what does that make you?"

"Uh…"

"…you're a part of our group, so what do you consider yourself as?"

Kein thought for moment as she realized she had not included herself within her own explanation. She felt she was the odd man out since Ichigo had known Orihime and the others long before she had entered the picture.

"Well, amongst those individuals, sometimes a rare odd man out comes along that is able to pitch in a little bit of everything. That would be me. I'm the odd man out because…I'm kind of a mix of everything. Like Ichigo, I have a lot of power that has yet to be refined and contained. I do a lot more protecting and guarding than I do anything else. I think that's why me and Ichigo get along pretty easily, even though he's so damn stubborn sometimes. So Ichigo and I kind of support each other in battle. I can strategize pretty good, but I don't think I'm nearly as good as Uryuu. He is one sharp minded guy. However, I too have a bit of healing abilities as well, but the problem is, is that healing someone with deep injures can nearly kill me and it takes 72 hours to let myself heal. So yeah, I just have a mix of everything, not really being one or the other. I simply support in the best way I can and apply myself to the right situation when called to action."

A moment of silence hit as Kein and Orihime smiled at each other. It wasn't until now that Kein realized just how much of a friend the others were to her and having Orihime confirm that she was indeed a part of them, mended over old wounds.

Rangiku yawned playfully, "Man, how boring. Just how many toppings do you plan to put on that pizza, huh Kein?"

"What the hell does pizza have to do with this?"

"Geeze, you can't even sniff out a metaphor even if its staring you in the face. It would have been a lot easier if you just hugged her and told her everything would be alright," she stated sarcastically in banter as Kein gave her a funny glare, "Hugging someone _naked_ is not exactly my idea of therapy, Rangiku!"

The trio, as well as the other groups out in town were enjoying the quiet evening, but upon this evening, it was being shared by another individual that sat idly by upon a rooftop as the rest of his Fracciones appeared through a garganta to join up with him.

"Is this everyone?"

The entire group of 5 Arrancars came out from the garganta as it closed up and disappeared behind them. "Did anyone see you?"

"Of course _not_," Shawlong answered accordingly. "Grimmjow…"

"…yeah? What?" the Sexta Espada replied with a stern nonchalant attitude.

"On the journey to meet with you, I detected spiritual pressures. They were many and strong contrary to Ulqiorra's report."

"Pfft, open your Pescices!"

The group closed their eyes as they opened their spiritual awareness. Upon concentration, each of them could tell that there was 12 spiritual pressures total within the vicinity.

"Just as I thought, there are _many_ more. Well, the Soul Society I guess. Must be reinforcements. It's grown complex all thanks to you. If you had done your job this wouldn't have happened. You're soft _Ulquiorra_!"

He huffed with irritation. "DiRoy! Shawlong! Edrad! Yylfordt! Nakeem! There's no need to hold back. If they have any spiritual pressure at all, I want them dead!"


	8. Grimmjow Jaegerjaqeuz

**Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez**

As the Arrancars split up to search up for any spiritual pressure they could find, everyone that could easily sense their reiatsu were now informed of their presence. Ichigo gasped as she spoke out, "A spiritual pressure! It's them! Kh, Rukia!"

"Way ahead of you," she stated as she was looking at the spiritual gps on her cell phone and counted the red dots that appeared, "1, 2, 3…6 of them. They're so many!"

"Do you think they're coming here for us?"

"No…they're targeting spiritual pressure, but they don't seem to be coming this way."

"So what the hell does that mean?"

"They're not interested in the _strength_ of a spiritual pressure. They're making a hit list. It means, Humans with the slightest amount of spiritual pressure…will be killed." Ichigo gasped in concern as he pulled out his Shinigami badge.

"Uryuu should have no spiritual pressure right now, but what about Chad and Orihime?"

"Captain Hitsugaya, Matsumoto, as well as Kein are pretty close to Orihime. She should be just fine with them, but Chad's alone!" He gasped as she finished "And there's one headed right towards him!" Without hesitation, Ichigo released his Shinigami form from his body and rushed out the window of his room.

"Huh? Wait Ichigo!" Rukia was still in her gigai form and would make it harder for her to catch up as she quickly ran out the front door of the house to follow him. It didn't take long before Ichigo had reached Chad's location, but found him to be outside and being confronted by an Arrancar.

Within a split second move the Arrancar had sped forward to pierce his hand through Chad's chest, but Ichigo caught his wrist at the last second, "You shouldn't evaluate your attack until after you've won the fight. Get what I'm saying?" Ichigo warned in a deep tone.

"I suppose that's fair enough, after I kill you, there won't be any confusion. I'll tell the others…that none of you Shinigamis…" ripping his hand away as he gave some distance between him and Ichigo "…know how to fight!" DiRoy taunted.

Chad was frozen, realizing that if Ichigo had not stepped in, he would have died. A small dab of blood began to seep and form from a small spot in the middle of his chest.

"Chad, step back okay?" Ichigo requested as Chad instantly retorted, "Wait, Ichigo! If you're worried about my injuries…"

"Chad!..._please_…let me handle this."

"I see…fine…I get it. I'll leave him to you." Chad then turned and ran in the opposite direction as he passed by Rukia who had finally caught up.

"Hold up Chad, are you alright?" But he didn't say a word as he thought to himself _"Ichigo what happened? Don't you trust me to get your back anymore? I wonder…if we'll ever be able to fight as a team again…Ichigo."_DiRoy merely smiled at Ichigo taunting him, "So…now that we can fight how shall I go about killing you?" Ichigo removed the bandages around his head as Rukia stood behind him.

"Rukia…"

"…yeah, I saw Chad on the way here. He looked upset. What did you say that might have set him off?"

"I have no idea. I simply told him to step back and let me handle this fight." Rukia sighed as she merely repeated his words back at him, "Step back, Ichigo."

"Huh? You want me to what?" But upon looking back at her he saw a familiar object in her hand.

"Wait…that's…"

"…right, I'm telling you to step back and leave this guy to me." Opening her soul replacement pill penz dispenser, she popped a pill into her mouth as her Shinigami form separated from her gigai.

"Trust me, you're way too eager for this battle. You're too tense. You could get yourself killed…_fighting like this._" Looking upon her Shinigami form he gasped, "Rukia! I-I didn't know your powers returned."

"Yeah…quite a surprise huh?"

"You got that right," another voice interrupted as a Shinigami landed from the sky in interruption and stood beside Rukia. Rukia and Ichigo gasped. "Kein? What the hell are you doing over here?" Kein narrowed her eyes at Ichigo in retort, "What do you mean 'what the hell am I doing here'? I came here to protect you, you dumbass!"

"Kh, what? But what about Orihime?"

"She's fine. With Rangiku and Captain Hitsugaya at her side not to mention their two gigais around her, that's plenty of people to protect her. Besides, you're still injured, I had no idea Rukia had gained her powers back since she _neglected_ to tell me, and the only person here that's at a level of a Captain class is _me_. I came to help out so don't give me that 'why are you here' bullshit."

Ichigo scowled at her, but he couldn't help but feel that she was right and he wasn't bound to argue with her since she was just as stubborn as he is on this sort of matter.

"Besides, I'm glad I'm here now. I want to see what Rukia can do," she grinned as she looked over at Rukia. "So…please continue. Explain to us how your powers got back, I am more than intrigued to know."

Rukia sighed a little, but smiled at her, "Yes…well…after a while I had concluded that the gigai Urahara gave me wasn't going to work. I thought about it and realized that if I wanted my spirit energy to come back I needed to return to the Soul Society, which is overflowing with reishi."

"You were able to absorb them?" Ichigo asked. "Yes, that's right. Did you forget? We've seen evidence of this before. The Bounts absorbed reishi in Soul Society to enhance their powers. Even though Soul Reapers can't absorb them as rapidly, we have the same ability."

"But wait a minute I'm still confused. I thought your powers hadn't returned during our fight with the Bounts."

"Not completely. After Captain Aizen's rebellion I was supposed to recuperate and let my powers restore themselves for a while. However, the sudden appearance of the Bounts threw a monkey wrench into my plans. The Soul Society was in total chaos. After all it was an emergency situation. We were working without guidance from Central 46. Then the Bounts made their way to Karakura town and you were all forced to take them on. The Seireitei had no choice but to send people to help that was familiar with you in the world of the living."

"Someone familiar with us in Karakura town? So…they sent you, Hanataro, Ganju and Renji? Don't you think they could have done a better job picking people? You didn't really do anything."

"HA, HAAAAA!" A sudden outburst echoed in the air as the soul that was possessing Rukia's gigai suddenly jumped on top of Ichigo. "What the hell are you supposed to be?"

"Please step back Ichigo!" It said with a high pitched girly toned voice. "What are you?"

"She's the most popular soul candy amongst the female Shinigamis. She's called Chappy."

"Pfft, you guys wonder why I never use those things? That thing is crazy," Kein added in a mutter.

"To be quite honest this was the soul candy I wanted to purchase, but there wasn't any left on the shelf so I was given Kony instead."

"OH REALLY? You mean to actually say you were going to put THIS THING IN MY BODY? I'm glad we ended up with KON INSTEAD!" The two were wrestling around as the gigai grabbed onto Ichigo's hair. "If you don't let go of my hair you're going to find out how rude I can REALLY BE!"

"It's nice to see you two getting along so well. Before coming back here I had Orihime treat my wounds. And after that my spirit energy was almost completely restored." Before she had a chance to continue talking, the Arrancar rudely interrupted as he came at her with his bare hands.

"Man that Arrancar has a lot of patience. I'm surprised he didn't attack earlier," Kein mumbled to herself as she watched the battle begin. She could easily sense the level of the Arrancar's power and wasn't in the least bit concerned. She knew Rukia had this one in the bag.

"Rukia!" He cried out, but Kein placed a hand upon his shoulder.

"Relax carrot top, she's got it. That guy is a lot weaker than you think he is."

"Wait…what did you just call me?" Kein then left the scene to go watch Rukia fight.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Arrancar 16. I'm called DiRoy."

"I'm in the 13th Squa-"

"…nevermind, you don't have to bother telling me. If I had to listen to the names and titles of everyone I was about to kill, I'd _never_ get anything done."

"I see then. Listen to this…_DiRoy_…at the very least you should learn the name of my Zanpakutou." Holding out her blade horizontally as she chanted, "Dance….Sode no Shirayuki!"

Seconds within calling out the Shikai of her blade, the sword turned to the color of pure white snow as a gentle lace hung from the end of its hilt, connected to a few white charms.

"Some no Mai…Tsuki Shiro!"

With lightning speed, Rukia appeared to the side of DiRoy as a white brilliant circular light surrounded the bottom of their feet. A chill went up Kein's spine as this was the first time in a long time that she had witnessed Rukia's attacks. It was like watching a beautiful dance. Ice began to form up along DiRoy's legs as he gasped "What? What the hell is this?" By the time the ice formed to his midriff he quickly jumped up from the ground to escape it.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, oh well, tough luck for you _Shinigami_. The sky is my domain, it's where my true strengths lie! A sword that can freeze the ground…isn't worth much up here."

Despite his taunts Rukia could only smile "Well actually my friend…" and then the ice from the ground shot upwards and completely froze over DiRoy's body "…I never said my Zanpakutou could only freeze the ground. Everything inside this circle both _earth_ and _sky_…is within Sode no Shirayuki's domain!"

And within those moments the skyscraper of ice cracked and vanished as DiRoy was easily destroyed. Upon returning back to Ichigo and Rukia's gigai, Kein and Rukia stepped in front of him, watching a childish scene unfold as Rukia's possessed gigai was being quite a pain in Ichigo's back side.

"Shut up! If you don't shutsieupsie I'll force you to be quiet."

"GAHAAA! Stop with the cutesie talk will yah? I'm already in so much pain I can't be quiet! Let go of me now!" She had him in an arm lock as she was forcing his arm backwards in an unnatural way as a loud popping sound could be heard. "No!"

"AHHHHHHH! AH YOU'RE BREAKING MY ARM! I'M GONNA KICK YOUR BUTT I SWEAR!"

"Oh I certainly don't wanna have my butt kicked so to protect myself I better kill you!"

"Wo wait a second! Don't get crazy, I mean you're just supposed to be holding me down right?"

"But this is so much fun! Watch as your arm goes breakie wakie!"

The screams were endless from their wrestling as Rukia finally stepped in, "Excuse me…"

"…HA, HA, HA, HA, HA! OH MY GOD this is so damn funny!" Kein was cackling on the side lines as she watched the two struggle with each other, sitting on some nearby stairs around a corner "…what the hell Kein DO YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY OR SOMETHING?"

"…well yeah, naturally…"

"…you just wait until I get back up then I'll show you WHAT'S FUNNY!..."

"…just what the hell are you two doing?" The ruckus finally stopped as the two looked up at Rukia. "Wait a minute…Kein…Rukia…so is everything okay? What happened to the Arrancar? Did you defeat him?"

"Of course! Teh, that's a silly question otherwise we wouldn't be back here now would we?"

"Hm? Yeah true." His eyes then laid upon Rukia's Zanpakutou as it was the first time he had ever seen it. "That Zanpakutou…"

"…Sode no Shirayuki. I know what you're thinking, impressive isn't it? The snow and ice Zanpakutou, it's the most beautiful one in all of Soul Society. The blade…the guard…even the hilt…it's a Zanpakutou like pure snow. So pretty…" her gigai complimented "...way to kill the mood," Ichigo insulted as a loud cracking sound could be heard as he screamed out again.

"You may not realize this but, Rukia is strong enough to become a ranked officer. But if she was assigned a seat, the risk level of her missions would be much more dangerous than those of a regular guard smith. And because a certain someone didn't want her to be exposed to those kinds of dangers he pulled some strings, approached the Captains, and asked that her name be removed from the list of officer candidates."

"A certain…someone?" Ichigo questioned. "You didn't hear from me, but it was Byakuya Kuchiki."

Ichigo gasped slightly as Kein merely folded her arms in irritation. She didn't like Byakuya in the least and found his presence to always annoy her. However in mid conversation, Kein suddenly felt someone strange approaching.

"It's love…"

"…great you just ruined the moment again so if you don't mind would you get the hell off me already?" More bone cracking sounds could be heard as Ichigo screamed again. "How long are you going to keep that…"

"…shut up you guys! Something's coming." Kein warned as she looked up towards the direction of the giant reiatsu that had just arrived and a voice barked out.

"What the hell happened here? DiRoy's been killed? Heh…_oh well_…..in that case it looks like I'll just have to kill the both of you."

The man didn't notice at first since she had her reiatsu level set pretty low, but Kein was sitting on some nearby stairs so she wasn't seen. She looked up in the sky and gasped. It was that man…the man she had met back in Hueco Mundo. It was that same voice…that same hair color…the hole within his stomach…and most of all that same exterior jawbone. Her heart raced as she was smothered with his spiritual pressure. It was the first time she felt it even slightly released as it crawled beneath her skin. It felt deadly, wild, and untamed, just like an animal ready to kill its prey.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Arrancar 6. You can call me Grimmjow!"

Kein gasped again at hearing the number as she momentarily looked down at the necklace on her chest as it bared a golden number 6 charm. She couldn't help but find it oddly ironic. She smiled to herself at finally hearing his name. It tickled her fancy as she found the name appealing as he floated downward upon the ground. She also couldn't help but notice that she was the only one happy to see this man as she saw how frozen still Rukia and Ichigo were.

"Which one….which one of you is the strongest? Who's going to take me on?" That look…that wild look in his eyes…it was the same as Kein's when she would fight an opponent worth in battle.

"Ichigo, get out of here!"

The second Rukia called out was when Grimmjow made his move, but Kein jumped out and intercepted it as she grabbed Grimmjow's wrist with her hand. It was a surprise to say the least as Grimmjow gasped at the sudden appearance of Kein. Her grip was strong as her nails dug into his skin.

"Well…that's not very nice. Didn't your mother ever tell you to not punch women full of holes?" She asked in a mocking sarcastic tease. She grinned at him, glad that she was hidden so that she could stop Rukia from being pierced through the stomach, but she couldn't help but admit to herself that stopping Grimmjow's thrusting hand was nearly impossible with just one hand alone. She was holding onto his wrist with everything she had.

"You!"

"So, you didn't forget after all. So I'm assuming you still remember me from the last time we met…in Hueco Mundo?"

Ichigo gasped. Could it be that these two previously knew each other?

Releasing himself from Kein's grasp he shot back to give some distance between the two as he finally had a chance to meet her face to face once more. "I never got a chance…to tell you my full name, Grimmjow." It felt good to say his name as it rolled right off her tongue. It had a good ring to it as she continued, "Its…"

"…Kein Marasuna…right?" She gasped as she had never told him her full name before.

"Don't be so shocked. Out of the target we were going after, Aizen warned us about you above all else…Miss Ex-Shinigami." Her eyes widened, but then she grinned and let out a nervous chuckle "Aizen has a big mouth. What _else_ did he tell you?"

"That you can use Hollow powers. I find that hard to believe since you're just a damn Shinigami!"

"OH REALLY? Then why were you so surprised when I used my garganta?"

Grimmjow narrowed his eyes as his grin stretched bigger across his face. It was like two devils looking upon each other in blood lust. "Heh, it doesn't matter _what_ Aizen told us. It doesn't matter what you _are_ because in the end the result will be the same…because I'm going to crush you!"

"Yeah? Well I look forward to it!" Kein then looked over her shoulder momentarily, but then tossed her gaze back at Grimmjow.

"Ichigo…Rukia…I want you two to do me a favor and _not_ interfere."

The two gasped as Rukia retorted, "Kein are you crazy? Do you have any idea what his level is at? This guy is nothing compared to the Arrancar I just fought!" In irritation Kein barked back, "I KNOW THAT! But what you fail to understand is that I don't care if you and Ichigo were 100x stronger than me. This fight is MINE! You got that? So if either of you two interfere…even if I look like I'm on the brink of death…" turning her head back at them one more time as an aggressive expression crossed her face "…I'LL KILL YOU!"

Ichigo and Rukia were completely taken back by her threat. They had never heard her speak to them in that way before, it was like she was a completely different animal.

Kein tossed her gaze back as she mentally prepared herself for the battle to come. Grimmjow was rather pleased with Kein's outburst. He hadn't fought someone with _this_ type of attitude in a long time let alone in the form of a woman. He could see the satisfaction on her face as Kein grinned wildly at him. Rukia was nearly furious with her as she was going to kick some serious sense into Kein, but Ichigo put out an arm to hold her back. "I-Ichigo…"

"…Rukia…" he spoke to her in a much softer toned whisper "…don't bother. As much as I hate to admit it, she's the strongest one here right now and I'm sure she can take this guy on, but that look in her eyes. She's claimed this fight as hers, so we just have to trust in her power that she can win, but I'll be damned if I'm going to leave her side. So we'll just have to watch for now. Besides, she's done some recent training lately and I want to see what she can do."

"Recent…training?"

Without another moment to pass Kein rose up her hand as her Zanpakutou flashed forth from it as she grabbed its hilt and with quick movements she rushed at Grimmjow and slashed downward with her sword, but he merely just lifted an arm and blocked it with his forearm. She flinched slightly as the blade was neither cutting nor digging into his skin. It was like his skin was made of iron. With a push of reiatsu from his arm Kein was shot back, but she used the force of the push to spin her body as she swung her sword backwards to hit upon Grimmjow again as he once again merely blocked it.

With speed she used the same energy push to somersault over him and swung downward with her sword to slice his torso, but Grimmjow grabbed her blade with his bare hand and swung it with a push of his Reiatsu as she was thrown violently to the side, skidding along the ground. Getting back to her feet she stated, "Wo! Holy crap!"

"Hey, are you even _trying_ Shinigami? I don't want to waste the energy of killing you if you're not at maximum strength. I'm giving you a break Kein. I'm willing to wait until you summon your Bankai."

She gasped slightly. He was going to…wait for her? "You better do it, or I'll drag your ass over here and give you the beating of your life!" Kein hesitated slightly, blushing a bit, finding his threats to be almost exhilarating.

"What's the matter too scared to fight?" She saw as his eyes widened, almost happy in expression.

"Heh, well since you're being a gentlemen about it, then fine. I'll bring out my Bankai, just _for you._" Her grin turned into a devilish smile as she held out her blade vertically and chanted, "Ban….KAI!"


	9. Till We Meet Again

**The next story that takes place is **"On Hollow Grounds"

**Till We Meet Again**

With a fierce eruption of reiatsu, Kein released her Bankai as links of beautiful chains hung from her belt, her sword now a giant gorgeous scythe, and her aura a darkened blackish red.

"That's more like it!"

Grimmjow stated with satisfaction. Her reiatsu could be seen and felt from afar as the other groups that were fighting took a moment to look in the direction. Without hesitation Kein came at Grimmjow with lightning fast speed, striking down her scythe upon the ground, but Grimmjow easily dodged as he jumped up into the air. Using a spinning output of her reiatsu into her hand, she caused her scythe to spin almost uncontrollably to make it a deadly spinning blade just as she had seen Ernesto do during their fight.

She caught onto the technique quite quickly as she came up with a variation to Ernesto's, throwing her blade and letting it fly in the air like a boomerang, but the minute it caught up to Grimmjow, he merely deflected it as it was shot back at her as she caught it, but barely missing a slice onto her face from the blade. She was a little surprised that he could so easily send it back, but it didn't deter her.

Suddenly Grimmjow appeared before her with a forceful punch, but she dodged and came up behind him with a sideways flying kick, but he countered her dodge with another as he grabbed her arm, pulled her in, and socked her right in the jaw, sending her flying into the ground. Using the end part of her staff, she forced it into the cement to push herself off of it from colliding, but Grimmjow was quick to come at her as he launched his body forward with a powerful burst of energy to impact into her directly, but she dodged at the last second by a mere hair's length.

The dent into the ground caused smoke to arise as she lost sight of him, but she could easily feel where his reiatsu was as she swiped her blade through the smoke as Grimmjow grabbed the edge of the blade with his bare hands. Pushing it away forcefully, he quickly went in and side kicked her into the stomach as she was plummeted along the ground, skidding like a bouncing rock on water. Impacting into a light pole, it bent severely as it slowly fell over in half as Kein got to her feet.

"Damn, this is going to cause a lot of damage," she stated as she jumped high into the air to give herself a better view of things as Grimmjow quickly came up to her to punch her square in the face. Using a form of hand to hand combat she was taught, she used her left hand to deflect his punch sideways, held onto it as she then swung her right foot to kick him upside the head, but he caught her foot, grabbed tightly, spun himself in such a way that her grasp upon his wrist and his grasp upon her foot sent her flying off into a direction. He used this moment to come at her, uppercut her from underneath as she catapulted in an upward direction and then teleported above her as he side kicked her sideways into her stomach, sending her downwards back into the ground as her body spun uncontrollably.

The ground shook as her body contacted the hard street cement as rubble and dust flew up everywhere around her. The wind was nearly knocked out of her as she staggered to her feet. She never in her life imagined that this Arrancar would be _this_ powerful. She hadn't had such a hard time fighting an enemy since she fought with Gutierrez when they first met during the dimensional rift incident in Soul Society, but this fight was different.

Grimmjow was the first opponent that she has faced that preferred to fight with his hands instead of his sword. Either he did it because he felt it wasn't necessary to use his weapon, or he merely got a joy out of digging in the dirt with his bare hands instead of relying on a weapon. Either way, it didn't matter to her as she panted heavily, raising her weapon ready for his next strike.

This fight was turning out to be everything she was hoping for in an opponent. Within seconds Grimmjow burst through the smoke and debris as she swung her scythe in counter as his fist hit her blade, nearly cracking it as he then pushed it downwards, using the push to swing his body and kick the side of her face as blood spat from her mouth, sending her away once again as she bounced along the ground and finally skidded through asphalt until she came to a complete stop, smacking into a car.

Grimmjow began to slowly take his time as he began to approach her. She staggered more heavily as she found it rather difficult to get up. At this point it was obvious to her that her Bankai wasn't going to be enough, but then that very thought stopped in its tracks as she took it back.

_"No…I refuse to use 'Rei de Seikatsu' to try to defeat this guy. I will not insult Ernesto and Bankaguna like that. If I'm going to defeat this guy, then it's going to be on my own standing and own strength. I will not rely constantly on a technique that is meant to be used as a last resort. No, I will stand…and I will take these beatings head on. Besides, even if I did use those techniques, something tells me this guy is hiding the depth of his true power. He's beating me and he's not even using his Zanpakutou. I'm just going to have to accept that I need to refine my abilities and come up with a better solution in battle. Either I'm using this blade improperly or it's just merely slo…no…it's not slowing me down. I'm just notgood enoughwith it yet. I will force myself to stray from fighting Grimmjow hand to hand. I WILL learn to fight with Bankaguna properly."_

Despite how grave the moment probably looked on the outside, she couldn't help but grin and chuckle as her body trembled. Her laughing was cut short, finding herself covered in a daunting shadow as Grimmjow grabbed the top of her sweater and picked her right up off the ground. With his other hand he threw a punch at her, but she caught it at the last second as she continued to chuckle. She didn't mean to, but she couldn't help it.

"What the hell is so funny girl?"

"Heh, heh, heh, s-sorry…Grimmjow…" panting momentarily "…I mean no d-disrespect, but I can't help…but laugh…at how badly I'm getting beaten by you."

Her statement and reaction to the situation was unexpected. What at first he expected to be some defeated type of mocking taunt, instead turned out to be some strange form of nervous chuckling respect. His opponent was actually _enjoying_ getting beaten badly? This was new.

"Heh, is that right?" He asked, his grin returning to his face as he let go of her, releasing her from his grasp, her feet touching back upon the ground as she dropped her weapon for the time being. He was going to swing at her again, but she countered once more and caught his fists as their hands were in a dead lock, however she was finding it incredibly hard to hold his fists in her hands to keep him from punching her face into putty.

"I can tell…that you're e-enjoying this…" blood dripping out from her mouth from panting "…just as much…a-as me. Well? D-Doesn't it excite you?"

"Ha, ha, ha! I'll admit it's refreshing to finally have an opponent that enjoys getting the shit beaten out of them! But don't let the fun cloud your mind into thinking that you have even an ounce of a chance at winning!"

Using the force from her gripping onto his hands, he swung his arms sideways as her grip was lost, allowing him to come up from underneath her to give her an uppercut so hard that it split the skin on her chin as blood gushed forth from it. The impact was so firm that she could have sworn the bones in her chin had fractured as her body was sent flying upwards.

Teleporting above her once again, he then kicked her right back down like a soccer ball being shot into a goal as she impacted into the same spot as before as a large amount of smoke erupted. Placing his hands inside his pockets and spitting to the side a large wad of saliva, slight irritation overtook his face.

"Is that all there is to your _Bankai?_ You may desire to fight, but I gotta say you've turned out to be a real _disappointment_. You used your Bankai and all it gives you is _average speed?_ HUH?"

There was silence in the air as he waited for the smoke to clear or at least to hear a response, but there was none. However, flashes of memories went through Kein's mind as she remembered witnessing the ultimate technique of her Zanpakutou from her fight with Ernesto as the name of the attack echoed and she got up and cried out, "GOUKYUU…JIGEN!"

Grimmjow gasped as he put up his arms in defense, watching as a strange Grim Reaper silhouette came at him, but then within seconds had flashed forth into a yellow ragging power as it hit against him in an incredible impact as it exploded against his skin. The attack burned like acid as it left some nasty marks against his forearms and most of all upon his chest.

When the attack had cleared, Kein was now heavily breathing from the release of such a powerful technique. Had she been at full power, it would have been more affective, but that attack took nearly everything she had as it was the first time she had ever released it.

"Damn…what the hell was that? Aizen didn't mention in his description of you about that attack, _Kein_! Not a damn thing."

Kein returned a grin to him as she replied, "Glad to see that you're not disappointed after all, _Grimmjow_."

"HA, HA, HA, HA, HA ,HA ,HA! Guess I might have been wrong about you! It may turn out that you're worth killing _after all_!"

As pleased as Kein was to see that Grimmjow was grinning at her again, she couldn't help but feel a bit worried about her attack. She was sure she had used it correctly, even though it was her first time shooting it in the real world, but upon looking at his body, Grimmjow seemed to just merely have burns and nothing more. She remembered the other affects of the attack, but he didn't seem to show any signs of weakening or his five senses being over clouded _…or…_ maybe they _were_ affecting him. Either way, he wasn't showing any signs of backing off.

"Hey Kein, just how long are you going to stand there?" He asked impatiently. "I noticed this entire time you haven't used your weapon. So since I so _kindly_ showed you my Bankai the least you could do is draw your weapon against me."

"Pfft, you'll find that's a big mistake girl, but since you're so keen on _dieing_ then I guess it's my turn!" He began to withdraw his sword, but suddenly a man appeared behind him as Grimmjow froze in place. Kein gasped as she instantly recognized who it was.

"What the hell…Tousen?" He muttered to herself in irritation.

"Put your sword away…Grimmjow." Upon following the order, Grimmjow slid his sword back into its sheath, "Tousen. You want to explain to me why you're here?"

"You ask…why? You can't be serious. You choose to invade the world of the living on your own and you took 5 Arrancars without permission. Then you lost them in battle! You have disobeyed orders. You understand that much, don't you?"

He approached Grimmjow close as Kein looked on in worry. If there was anything she couldn't stand more was a rude interruption in battle between her and an opponent she felt was truly worthy of bringing out her full potential.

"Lord Aizen is quite upset with you Grimmjow."

Upon listening to the conversation, she was getting a clearer picture of the situation at hand.

"Come…" he commanded as he opened a garganta within the air "…your punishment for these acts will be decided in Hueco Mundo."

"Kh, fine then let's go," Grimmjow grunted in defiant response. Punishment? She wondered as she could only imagine what Aizen would do to him. A strange fear hit her heart as she for some odd reason wanted to protect him, "Damn you Tousen LEAVE HIM ALONE! It was me that engaged him in battle NOT HIM DAMN IT! Just get the hell out of here and let us continue this battle you son of a BITCH!"

"Shut up Kein! I'm going home…back home to Hueco Mundo. This matter is none of your damn business."

"Damn it…HOW THE HELL CAN YOU PUT UP WITH HIS SHIT? Why don't you just stand against him and come back down here and FIGHT ME! You can return back home after you finish your FIGHT WITH ME!"

"GET OVER IT!" Grimmjow yelled back in an almost near rage. "Let me get this through your thickheaded skull. The only reason you're still alive is because I'm _leaving_."

She gasped as he continued, "Consider yourself _lucky_. That attack you just used obviously took its tool as well. I can see it in your _face_. I'd say you have 1 or 2 attacks left in you, but still, even if you were able to do it 100 more times, you wouldn't stand a chance of beating me in my release mode!"

"R-Release mode? What the hell is that?"

"Don't forget my name, _girl,_and you better pray that you never hear it again! Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez! Because the next time you hear my name, you'll be dead…I promise."

And as his last words were spoken, the garganta in the sky closed up. She was then left alone as her heart yearned for him to return. She wanted to fight him again more than anything as she fell upon her knees from the exhaustion and sat there quietly for a moment as she heard running footsteps coming towards her.

"Kein!" Ichigo called out to her as he and Rukia had finally caught up to her location and stood on the ground above the indentation she was in.

Kein sat in silence as Rukia asked, "Where's that Arrancar? Did you win?"

Kein sighed, "No. He went back to Hueco Mundo because he forced to." A hint of sadness was in her tone as Rukia added in optimism, "Well at least you're still alive. Sometimes you're so damn reckless it worries me."

However, Kein wasn't sad that she had lost. On the contrary it was the complete opposite. She had finally got to fight him, but she was sad that he had to leave. She was sad…at the thought that he was in trouble and that Aizen might kill him for whatever reason. She feared the worst for him. Letting out a heavy sigh she stood up and placed a hand upon her neck to fiddle with the charm on her necklace between her fingers, but instead of feeling a cool metal sensation, she found that her necklace was gone.

She gasped as she frantically felt around on her chest to make sure that she was feeling correctly, but it was simply gone. There's no way the chain could have broken that easily in battle unless…unless…"That…that bastard. He took it…heh, heh, he took my necklace," she muttered in whisper under her breath as she realized that when he had approached her after knocking her down and picked her up by her sweater, the chain must have got tangled around his fingers so that when he yanked himself away, he must have grabbed it by accident.

And just as she suspected, back in Hueco Mundo, Grimmjow was following Tousen in a hallway to meet Aizen. A shit eating grin was creased across his face, satisfied with the battle he just had, and twiddling between his fingers was a necklace with a number 6 charm on it. He found it rather intriguing that Kein had worn that number around her neck as he then placed it back in his pocket and kept it there.

As Tousen and Grimmjow stood before Aizen, he merely stated to Grimmjow in an almost sarcastic tone, "Welcome back…_Grimmjow_."

However, he refused to exchange pleasantries as he kept silent, giving Aizen a defiant glare. He wasn't exactly the type that liked dealing with authorities above his own.

"Why so quiet? Don't you have something to say to Lord Aizen, Grimmjow?" Tousen insisted.

"Not really," he replied nonchalantly. Tousen turned to face towards Grimmjow's general direction since he was blind and couldn't actually see him.

"What impudence!"

"It's alright, Kaname. The truth of the matter is I'm not really that upset," Aizen encouraged. "But Lord Aizen he…"

"…I believe that Grimmjow's actions were in an attempt to please me, but got carried away. That's how I view this incident. Am I right? Grimmjow?" Aizen gave him a long cold hard stare with a snake like smile as Grimmjow hesitantly answered in distaste, "Yes, my lord."

However, this wasn't good enough to Tousen as he reached out and grabbed Grimmjow by the collar of his jacket.

"What's the hell your problem _Tousen_?"

"Lord Aizen please! Give me permission to execute this traitor!"

"Kaname…" Grimmjow lifted his arm to release Tousen's grasp on him.

"Nice try Tousen. You've always hated me, _that's_ what this fuss is about isn't it? Is this any way for a director general to act, Tousen?"

"I simply believe that anyone who disrupts the peace should have to pay for it. It's not personal."

"You would kill me for insubordination?"

"Yes, for the honor of Lord Aizen."

"HA! Why am I not surprised? All you ever think about is the cause."

"Of course. It guides my actions, something of which you have no knowledge. With no moral foundation behind it, _killing_ is nothing more than murder, but on the other hand killing with _purpose_…" he stopped as he withdrew his sword and upon seconds of that moment he had cut Grimmjow's left arm clear off "…is _justice_."

Grimmjow cried out in agony as Tousen finished with, "Hado 54: Haien…Abolishing Flames!" A yellow fire surrounded the decapitated limb as it burned it to a complete dust. Blood splattered upon the ground as Grimmjow held the area where his arm was severed.

"Damn…damn…DAMN…DAMN IT!"

He looked up at Tousen with murderous eyes, "That's it pal, you'll pay for what you just did!" As he grabbed upon the hilt of his blade and ran at Tousen, ready to attack.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Grimmjow…" he stopped at the sound of Aizen saying his name "…take a moment to think about your actions before you continue. I warn you. I'll be forced to reprimand you if you attack."

Grimmjow gritted his teeth with a glaring intensity. He hated nothing more than to be told what to do _especially_ when he was attacked so severely and unfairly. He quickly turned his back and walked off in anger as the scene ended without another word spoken.


End file.
